Romeo and Mariette
by Texas Variety Katie-Bug
Summary: The little boy wrapped his arms around her leg, refusing to let go, shouting "Ladybug! Ladybug!" This was surprising on its own, but him turning to Adrien yelling "Papa, I found Ladybug!" was even more so. Countdown to Valentine's Day.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Patrol started out dull. Dreadfully so. A twenty-two year old Chat Noir leapt from rooftop to rooftop, relishing the freedom he had, but also feeling bored. Freedom was no longer scarce. When he was eighteen he moved out, still living off of his father's account and continuing to model, but going to college and studying business and whatever tickled his fancy, like theatre his first semester, which had been a horrible mistake because, even though he was a famous model and even more famous superhero, he could not act and had performed the worst monologue the professor had ever seen in his forty years of being a college professor. He gave a small chuckle at the memory, then frowned, a glint in the corner of his eye.

She was standing on the bridge, a fake looking smile on her face, a basket hanging off of one arm, a bag sitting at her feet. Her eyes were tired, glossy with tears, and her cheeks were stained red, skin rubbed raw around her nose from wiping away tears. His heart almost stopped when he looked at the stranger. He had never seen someone look this awful. "Can I help you?" he asked, hoping there was something he could do to help the woman standing in front of him.

"Yes," she licked her lips in reply, her voice cracking, choking back tears. "Can you-" he watched as the droplets began to roll down her face, "can you hold this for me?" She passed the basket to a confused Chat Noir, before reaching down and grabbing her bag.

Chat peered down into the basket, seeing a bundle of blankets, something stirring underneath. Tentatively, he moved the blankets, revealing a small face, even smaller hands, wrapped in a soft blanket, face scrunching up. "What?" He looked up at the woman, preparing the give the baby back to her, afraid to be holding the infant, knowing his power was destruction. "Ma'am, what are you-" he saw the glint of silver and saw her give a small smile before a resounding BANG filled the air, the woman falling to her knees, her head bleeding out, her brains spattering the bridge.

For a moment he could only stand there in stunned silence. A woman killed herself right in front of him. She passed him her baby then killed herself. After the shock came anger. What kind of woman would leave their child alone like this? Then he realized that she must have been waiting for him. She stood on that bridge, looking up at the skyline, calling out to him. A wave of regret and sadness washed over him. He didn't know this woman's name, but she chose to trust in Chat Noir. She trusted him with her child.

The child.

Loud cries were filling the air. The baby must have woken up when it heard the gunshot. He bounced the baby in the basket and used his baton to call the police, reporting the suicide before leaving without a trace.

He rushed to his home, leaping across the rooftops, being careful to not harm the baby in the basket. He didn't know what to do. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. Was he supposed to take the child to the hospital and dump it there, never knowing what became of it? Should he call Ladybug and ask her to come over and help? He shook his head, vetoing that idea. If she came over, then she'd know where he lived and that would just reveal his identity. Besides, he was pretty sure she was out of the country, studying. Calling any of the other members of the team would spell out similar disaster. He was on his own for this one.

Unless he wasn't. He had an idea. He just needed to make a phone call.

When he reached his house he re-transformed, Plagg releasing from his ring. "Kid, you've got to stop going out so late! I'm not as young as I used to-" Plagg stopped and looked at the crying child in the basket. "What's with the kid."

Adrien shook his head, shaking off Plagg's question. "Long story. I'll tell you later. Right now I really need help."

"Well, can you get it to stop crying? Give it some Camembert, or something. This screaming keeps up much longer and my head is going to explode," the black fairy looked down at the basket and saw little droplets of blood littering the basket, the jovial tone becoming uncharacteristically serious. "Something happened to the mother, huh?"

Adrien nodded, pulling out his phone, searching his contacts for one name in particular, "Yeah. I was on patrol and," he sighed, waves of regret crashing down on his chest, "it happened so fast. I couldn't stop her. Plagg," he turned to the kwami, for the first time letting the events that had just occurred process, "I'm not really worthy of being a superhero, huh? Ladybug probably would have been able to stop her. She wouldn't have a crying baby sitting here. She would be calm, collected, able to fix everything."

Plagg rested on Adrien's shoulder, placing his hands on his wielder's cheek as comfortingly as he could manage. "I don't think so. You're pretty super, Adrien. One of the best wielder's I've had." Plagg let out a small laugh, barely audible over the sound of the crying, "You also give me more cheese than any of my other wielder's, so maybe I'm a bit biased."

He rolled his eyes, the hint of a smile returning to him, the familiar sparkle lighting his eyes. He rolled up his sleeves and tapped on the number, praying she would answer. Three rings later, she did. "Hello?"

"Alya, you've got to help me." Adrien placed the phone on his shoulder, holding in place with his ear, before picking up the baby, bouncing him up and down like he had seen on television shows.

"Adrien," he could hear her take a deep breath, trying to compose herself, obviously able to hear the crying from her end of the phone, "what did you do?"

"Something stupid?" Admittedly, that was true statement. If he was smart he would have left the child with the mother and the the police handle the situation, but the nagging sense of responsibility that nagged at him... Chat Noir gave him freedom, but it made him be noble as well.

"How much legal trouble will you be in for this?" question mode was out.

"None, I hope?" He licked his lips and jumped into his soliloquy, hoping Alya would help him. "The mom killed herself and I happened to be there so I took the kid," he tried to be vague, leaving out as many details as he could so she couldn't trace the incident back to him being Chat Noir. "I really need help. I've never had to take care of a kid before and I know you have your younger siblings and I really couldn't think of anyone better to help."

"You're too good for your own good, you know that, Agreste?"

Adrien let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Alya."

While waiting for Alya, Adrien continued to bounce the baby, attempted to change the diaper, subsequently discovering the baby was a boy, placed the baby on his shoulder and patted the back, not sure what this accomplished but he had seen it done in a movie so it was worth a shot. He nearly cried in relief when Alya arrived. She had a large bag slumped over her shoulder and she immediately pulled out some white powder and a bottle, filling the bottle with water and mixing it with the powder, putting it in the microwave, then taking the baby from Adrien then starting to feed him, the baby calming down. "You're in over your head."

Adrien nodded. "I know, but I couldn't leave him there. His mother gave him to me right before she died, and it was like she was asking me to take care of him."

"So you're keeping him?" Her voice was low, as to not startle the baby, who was finally starting to drift to sleep, but the tone was sharp, causing Adrien to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, casting his gaze downward, avoiding his friend's harsh glare.

"Yeah, I was thinking I would." Alya took the baby and went to sit down on Adrien's couch, where he took a seat next to her. "I know I don't know anything, but I've got you, right? And Nino. I know the two of you have got my back, and if you don't I've got the internet and my father's money. That's all I've needed to get by before."

Alya relented, looking down at the baby who was polishing off the last of the bottle, her gaze softening. "You won't be alone, Adrien. You won't need to depend on your father's money or the internet. I mean, those things certainly won't hurt, but you've got me with you, and Nino. We've got your back, and I know Marinette will too as soon as she gets back from America."

"Alright." Adrien let out a sigh. "So, what do I need to buy?"

Alya smirked. "I grabbed some necessities on the way here, and Nino is already coming with a car so we can transport everything. Somehow I knew things were going to end this way. This will be one of those time's your father's money comes in handy." She gave him a wink before her expression darkened. "What's your father going to say? Is he going to be happy that you're essentially adopting a kid? You're, what, twenty-two? That's kind of young to be a single dad, don't you think?"

"He'll be mad at first but," Adrien glanced at the sleeping child in Alya's arms, "I think he'll warm up to the idea of having a grandson. Maybe it'll help mend some of our issues as well, and as for the single dad bit," he shot a smile in his friend's direction, "I'll be single but not alone. He'll have Uncle Nino and Aunt Alya, right?"

"Yeah, you will." Alya stood up and grabbed a fluffy throw off of the back of the couch, swaddling the newborn in the blanket, suspecting it was cleaner than the blankets he was wrapped in before, glancing at the blankets that lined the basket, paling slightly at the sight of the mother's blood. "We'll take care of this little guy." She placed a small kiss on the top of his head. "You going to give him a name?"

Adrien's smile broadened, a mischievous look glinting in his eyes. "I've got a few. Let's see, there's Howl, Jiji, Ashitaka, Sosuke, Totoro-"

Alya stood up, the soft, motherly look in her eyes only moments ago replaced by something darker. "Do you have any names that aren't from a Studio Ghibli movie?"

Adrien hung his head, looking at his friend, trying to hide the slight blush that graced his cheeks. "Uh, no?"

"Thought so. You can't name him after a Studio Ghibli character," Adrien perked up, only to be shot down again by Alya's sharp words, "or any anime character, period." At that moment Alya's phone started ringing. She picked up. Nino was waiting outside with a car. "Come on, you can think of a name while we shop."

They went to various stores, gathering the necessities they could considering it was pretty late at night, making a note of what supplies they couldn't, putting it on the list to get first thing in the morning.

Eventually Adrien was able to decide on a name, after at least thirty-two others -not that he was counting- were vetoed by Alya, so Romeo Agrete was now joining the family, simply because being named after a tragic Shakespeare protagonist was the least of all evils. Adrien did declare Romeo's middle name to be Howl, getting the anime reference in somewhere.

Romeo grew up with Adrien as his father, Chat Noir as his favorite superhero, Plagg as his best friend, and Uncle Nino and Aunt Alya as his favorite people in the world. It would be four years before Marinette would get to meet Romeo.

* * *

 _I can hear y'all saying that this isn't the soulmate AU y'all were promised, and I'm sorry! I'm really working hard but I'm also not going to force that story because that makes it bad for everyone involved. I was trying to figure out what to do for my Valentine's story, freaking out because it was the day before I promised to publish and I still had no idea what I was going to write, going through no less than six ideas before deciding they were good fic ideas, just not for a Valentine's fic. Seriously, there are like twelve word documents on my laptop that are half written prologues and plot ideas. This one came to me while I sat in the bathtub, lamenting my sorry state, praying I can find a good fic, so I hope y'all like this one! Marinette will be appearing in the actual story, I promise, but, frankly, Alya worked better here. Let me know what y'all think and I will see y'all February 1st! Thus begins the next holiday countdown!_


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Marinette took a deep breath as she took at seat at the cafe. She was finally home. It had been four years since she went to America and she had missed her beloved city. She missed being able to see her friends and converse causally in her native tongue. She missed Alya and Nino, and she really missed Adrien.

A glance at the time told her she was early, for once. It was fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet with the others. She was told to get a big enough table to seat five, but she had no idea who this fifth person could be. Marinette rolled her shoulders back as she looked over the menu, trying to decide what she wanted to eat. Soup, sandwich, both? Neither and just opt for a salad?

The sound of running feet distracted her, pulling her away from the menu and causing her to look up, only to see a little boy with bright blue eyes, a head of brown hair, and a face that was absolutely covered in freckles. What was most captivating was the starstruck look in his eyes and the giant, carefree smile he wore. The little boy wrapped his arms around her leg, refusing to let go, shouting "Ladybug! Ladybug!" This was surprising on its own, but him turning to a familiar blonde yelling "Papa, I found Ladybug!" was even more so.

"Romeo, let go," the blonde walked up and gave Marinette a smile. "Sorry about him. He's always doing stuff like this. Romeo is a huge fan of Ladybug." Adrien bent down so he was at eye level with the little boy, giving him a gentle smile. "Romeo, this is Marinette. I told you we were going to meet one of my old friends today, remember?"

The little boy -Romeo- shook his head, crossed his arms, and stamped his foot defiantly. "Nuh uh. That's Ladybug, Papa!"

Adrien stood up and decided to ignore the claims the little boy was throwing out there, instead offering Marinette a hug. "Hey, Marinette. It's been a while."

She hugged him back, smiling at his embrace, butterflies rising in the pit of her stomach. "Yeah, it has. I missed seeing you and the others around." Her eyes wandered to the little boy. "I'm assuming this is the famous Romeo, I've heard about?" The fifth seat now made sense. Marinette had heard Adrien adopted a little boy shortly after she left for America because of some tragedy with the mother.

"Yup!" Romeo pronounced, puffing his chest out and standing on his toes to make him look bigger. "I'm going to be Chat Noir when I grow up, Ladybug, so I'll be able to help you out."

Marinette crouched down so she was eye level with him, making a big show of looking side to side before pressing her finger to her lips. "Romeo, we can't tell anyone I'm Ladybug. Don't you know superheroes have to keep their identities secret."

"Oh." Romeo copied the woman in front of him, placing his finger on his lips. "Okay, I won't tell. It can be secret."

A sigh escaped her mouth through the smile. "Good." She then stood back up to be eye level with Adrien. Obviously he didn't really think she was Ladybug. He didn't think Romeo had guessed her identity correctly. It was easier to let the little boy believe that she was the masked heroine. It was like letting the little boy believe in Santa Clause, harmless and would make him happy in the long run.

"Wow, your really good with him, Marinette."

"Well, I did babysit Manon when we were in school, and when I went to America I had part time job nannying a couple of kids. They were a little older than Romeo but still a bit of a handful." Marientte led Adrien to the seat and smiled when he took the seat next to her, and Romeo taking the one next to him. "So, how old are you, Romeo?"

The little boy held up three fingers, jovial laughing filling the air. "I'm four years old!" Adrien reached over and lifted the last finger so the correct number was displayed.

"Wow, you're such a big boy. You're practically an adult!"

A small exhale, half amusement, half exasperation, came from the blonde next to her. "Don't give him any ideas. First Alya, now you, he thinks he's quite the lady's man!"

Romeo started bouncing up and down in his chair at the sound of Alya's name. "Are Aunt Alya and Uncle Nino going to come?"

"Yes sir, they are, but you need to sit still otherwise you'll scare them away." Watching the way Adrien interacted with Romeo was sweet. When correcting the boy he was supportive, giving him smiles. Correcting his behavior was done with equal parts grace, sternness, and smiles. Romeo stopped bouncing and was sitting like a near perfect gentleman, patiently waiting for the rest of the guests to appear. Adrien was a good father. The blonde turned away from his son and placed his focus on Marinette. "So besides nannying, what did you do in America?"

"I studied, mostly. I got a degree in fashion design and a merchandising. I plan on becoming big in the fashion industry some day and I know I'd need a bit of business knowledge on my side to do that. I interned for a few semesters for a couple different fashion companies. Really, I'm shocked I got the internship. They're known to be really exclusive about their interns, but somehow I managed to get the positions. I'm hoping to find a job in the industry here in Paris."

Adrien didn't think he liked fashion, but hearing Marinette speak about the subject wasn't so terrible. She didn't act like she was holier than thou and seemed like she really cared about what she was creating. "Do you have any specific goals you want to achieve?"

Marinette glanced down at the bag she carried, resisting the urge to pull out her notebook and flip through the hundreds of designs she had created for different lines. "I possibly have too many ideas," but there was one that stuck out to her more than any of the others ones. "I want to go into high fashion, but I also want to develop a line specifically for people with down syndrome and other genetic disorders. There isn't a lot catered to them. I know that I'd have to become pretty successful on my own before starting a line like that but," she pictured the designs in her notebook. There were all sorts of outfits dedicated to those people with special needs. "I really want to help them."

He didn't know what answer he was expecting, but it wasn't that. He had often heard people went into fashion because it was a type of art, and they wanted their art to be expressed in the best way possible. There was nothing wrong with wanting to express a creation in a beautiful way, but because of these visions of beauty those deemed as flawed by society were often ignored. It was beautiful to him that Marinette wanted to support them. "That's amazing," he breathed out, an exhale similar to the type of breath he let out when he was Chat Noir thinking about Ladybug.

In reply, Marinette blushed and looked down at her hands, glancing at her bag once again, resisting the urge to put out the sketch book. "Not really. It's a recent passion. One of the kids I nannied was an eight year old named Zoey with down syndrome. She really liked watching me draw and designing clothes herself so really I thought of the line as a way to help her. It's not much but it's something."

Something amazing. He'd be sure to mention this to his father when he had the opportunity. His relationship with the man had been on the mend ever since Romeo came into the picture. He was a distant father, but a doting grandfather. He was about to comment on Marinette's amazing idea once again when Romeo spoke up. "What's down sim-sim-"

"Syndrome?" Adrien offered.

"Yeah, simdrone. What's down simdrone?"

"It's a... disease that some people are born with that can make life a bit more challenging for them. Marinette is trying to help them get by a bit easier."

"Oh. Well I want to help too! Can I help, Papa?"

"Can Romeo help what?" Alya and Nino came up to the table and took a seat, excited to see Marinette after so long. "Hey girl!" Right before sitting down Alya exchanged hugs with Marinette, smiling the entire time.

"Alya! Oh, I missed you so much! You too, Nino." Nino gave Marinette a quick hug and sat down next to Romeo, letting the girls sit next to one another. "What's new?"

Marinette didn't miss the look Alya and Nino exchanged, the faintest hints of a blush spreading on Nino's cheeks, a smile widening on his face. "Well," he looked at Alya who picked up the cue and placed her left hand on the table, a ring sparkling on her left finger.

"We're engaged!"

"Alya!" Marinette brought her hands to her mouth, shocked and enthusiastic. She couldn't resist this time and brought out her notebook, flipping to blank pages near the back, since the notebook was almost completely filled, and immediately started sketching ideas for a wedding dress. She was going to make her best friend look stunning.

"We don't really have a date yet but we wanted to ask you two something," Nino started. "We need a best man and a maid of honor," then looked at Romeo. It was obvious Nino loved the kid almost as much as Adrien. "And a ring bearer of course. I wanted to ask if you would be my best man, Adrien."

"And you my Maid of Honor!"

"I'd love to!"

The two girls were once again hugging, Nino and Adrien were exchanging looks that were somewhere between exasperated and amused, and Romeo looked at everyone around him, confused. Why were grownups so weird?

"What does engaged mean, Papa?"

"Well, it means they're going to get married. Remember all those white dresses Grandpa said you can't touch? Those were wedding dresses. Weddings are a big deal. If a man loves a woman then he'll say he wants to spend the rest of his life with her."

"Oh." Romeo turned to look at Marinette, who was sitting down in her seat and putting her sketchbook back into her bag. Romeo got up out of his chair and pushed it in, like he was taught to do, before going to stand by Marinette. "Marinette, do you want to marry me?" Romeo asked.

This made the woman laugh and pick up the boy, placing him in her lap, pressing him into a hug. "Oh, you're simply too cute. Adrien, you have a perfect little gentleman right here."

"Yeah, he's pretty sweet."

"Does that mean you and me can get married, Marinette?"

She ruffled his hair and smiled at him. "I think I'm a bit too old for you. I think there is a perfect girl out there your own age that you will meet someday. You can marry her, alright?"

Romeo nodded, then looked at Adrien. "You should marry Papa, then!" Nino and Alya started to laugh while Marinette and Adrien suddenly looked away from one another. Romeo tried to make sense of the situation. "Wouldn't that make you my mother, then? Ladybug could be my mother and Chat Noir can keep being Papa!"

The laughter at the table silenced, Alya and Nino looking over at their two friends. "Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Marinette shook her head, trying to weasel her way out of the situation. "Romeo came over and declared I was Ladybug a bit earlier. I told him I was."

"And Romeo and I will play superheroes at home, so I'll pretend to be Chat Noir, isn't that right, Romeo?"

"But-" Adrien gave Romeo a stern look, and though it wasn't harsh, it silenced the boy. "Yeah... we play Ladybug and Chat Noir at the house and Papa pretends to be Chat Noir. It's really fun."

The crisis was barely averted, today. Still, a seed of doubt seemed to be placed in Alya's mind. They just hoped they could get out of it.

* * *

 _Happy first day of February! Finally it's time for the countdown to begin! First of all, y'all's responses to the prologue have been amazing! I can't believe it! Secondly: I'm hoping I can keep on track like I did with Sepulchral and Mistletoe, but there is one important difference these two times around. I'm back in school, in addition to working, so my times might be a bit weird. I'm going to try my best to have a chapter out every day. Fingers crossed guys! Well, I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"Thanks for watching him tonight, Father." Adrien was at the Agreste estate, passing off for the night, backpack slung over his shoulder, as was planned every Saturday night. Romeo would get to spend time with his usually bust grandfather, and Chat Noir would be able to patrol the streets of Paris.

"You know I look forward to this, Adrien. Think nothing of it." Gabriel gave the little boy a small pat on the head, halfway smiling. "Before too long he'll be able to start modeling, you know."

Adrien rolled his eyes, not wanting to tell his father no, but not wanting to subject his son to the same tediousness he had to suffer through when he was young. "We'll see," was all Adrien said before looking down at Romeo, who was looking up at his father expectantly. "Now, you know the rules. Be good for your grandfather. I'll pick you up at six tomorrow. You can call me if you need anything."

Romeo nodded before running up to his father, giving him a hug. "Alright, Papa. I promise I'll be good." Adrien gave his son a kiss on the head, and, with that, Gabriel and Romeo disappeared into house and Adrien went into the alley.

"You know, Romeo is a sharp kid. It won't be long before he realizes that you being Chat Noir isn't just some game the two of you play." Plagg zipped out of Adrien's shirt and crossed his arms. The kwami had to make himself scarce more often since Romeo wasn't allowed to know of the fairy's existence. "He'd make a good Chat Noir one day, though."

"I'm hoping he'll never have to. I want to make the city safe for him. Paris is a nice place to grow up. I want him to have the childhood I never had."

Plagg rolled his large, green eyes, but a smile hinted at his lips. "Whatever, kid." He looked down to the ground and kicked the air with one foot, like he was kicking a rock, placing his hands behind his back, bashfully. "For what it's worth, you're a great dad."

"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien looked up at the sky, darkness starting to fill it, stars beginning to shine brightly, the moon rising overhead, lightly illuminating the area around them. "He doesn't know how tragically his life started. I'll have to tell him one day, but, when I do tell him I don't want him to feel betrayed."

"He knows you love him."

"I'll prove it to him every day, if I have to."

A small snort escaped Plagg. "Remember when you used to talk this way about Ladybug? You were seriously in love with her."

"I still am, but I've got different priorities now. Besides, I haven't seen her in years. Who knows if I'll ever see her again."

The kwami knew that Ladybug was Marinette, but he couldn't go right out and say, "You went to lunch with her this afternoon!" Adrien would start putting the pieces together and it wouldn't take long for him to figure out that his childhood friend was the girl he had been in love with for the last decade. Instead, he decided to settle. "I don't think I'm _that_ unlucky. I'm sure she'll appear soon."

"Maybe," was all the blonde could muster, before looking around the ally one more time. "Alright, the coast is clear. Plagg, claws out!" The black cat was sucked into the ring and in a moment of bright beauty and terror Adrien was transformed into the hero, Chat Noir. He leapt onto the closest dumpster and then jumped to the nearest roof, running across, relishing the freedom he got to scarcely enjoy nowadays.

He ran on the buildings, gracefully, until he saw _her._

She was shining in the moonlight, throwing herself around with her yoyo. The smile she wore on her face, the way her hair glowed in the moonlight, the way her eyes put the stars to shame... it was like she never left. He would follow this woman to the end of the earth if she asked him to.

She hadn't seen him, so he did what any black cat ought to do: stick to the shadows. He fell in step behind her, silently, mirroring her every move, just waiting for the right moment to reveal himself. Of course, he knew when that moment would be. She would reach the Eiffel Tower and scan the city, looking for trouble, and he would slink out of the darkness and capture her in a hug, declaring how much he missed his Lady, and how he was elated she was back.

That was the plan, at least, but Ladybug always made her own rules. "Come out, kitty. I know you're behind me," she said, stopping just short of the tower.

"Aw, how'd you _meow_ it was me?"

"Easy, I know you've always got my back." His heart could stop in that moment. She _knew_ he would come. She _knew_ he would follow. They were partners and depended on one another like that. They hadn't seen each other in four years and they were able to easily fall back into this pattern of depending one another. There was something special about that, wasn't there?

They climbed the Eiffel Tower and sat side by side, letting their legs dangle dangerously over the edge. Her hand sat vacantly next to his and he wanted nothing more than to take her hand in his, getting rid of each of their solitude. He felt like a teenager again, butterflies fluttering rapidly in his stomach. "So, Chaton, how was Paris while I was gone?"

Chat shrugged and looked at his lady, resisting the urge to say I love you with his next breath. "Well you know what they say: when the Ladybug's away, the mice come out to play, and this cat here had quite the feast."

He could see the exasperation forming in her eyes, but the lighthearted humor in there as well. "I think you've got that phrase a bit backwards."

"Well those criminals were all rats anyway. It's like Hawk Moth knew you were gone. Akumas were rare and I was reduced to catching purse snatchers and petty thieves. Hardly the action we were used to, M'Lady. So how was your adventure outside of France? You miss me?"

She laughed, her voice ringing clear, like a bell. "Everyday, kitty. I didn't get to transform while I was gone. I missed it, and I missed my parter." She looked at him, her lower lip slightly jutting out, tantalizing him. If he could take her then he would. Take her in his arms and run-

A ringtone filled the air and Chat felt his suit vibrating. He held up a finger motioning for one moment to Ladybug, pulling out his cellphone, seeing it was Romeo calling, and answered. "Hey buddy, is everything alright?"

"I think there's a monster under my bed."

Monster under the bed? Adrien had that fear too when he was living in the house. "I see. Did you bring your Chat Noir with you?" Alya had bought a black cat and ladybug plush toy when Romeo was brought home, and he seldom left home without one of the two toys in tow.

"Yeah, I have Chat with me."

"Well you know what? Chat Noir told you Daddy that he put some of his powers into your Chat Noir, so he'll protect you from those monsters under the bed."

"He will?"

"Yup! But Chat Noir likes the night, so he'll only protect you when you're sleeping, so you need to go to bed."

He could practically see Romeo's head bobbing up and down at his words. "Alright, Papa. I'll let Chat Noir protect me from the monsters."

"Alright. _Bonne nuit. Je t'adore._ "

" _Je t'adore, Papa._ " Chat Noir hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket, turning his attention to Ladybug, once again.

"Sorry, my son is afraid of monsters under the bed."

She looked shocked. "You have a son?"

Chat nodded. "Yeah, it happened right after you left. The mother-"

Ladybug stood up, shaking her head. "I- I need to go. I'll see you soon, alright?" She brought out her yo-yo and started to swing off.

"Ladybug, wait!" She could hear him calling after her, but she didn't stop. She didn't stop until she reached the balcony of her childhood home where she released her transformation and collapsed onto the chair.

"Chat has a family. He has a son." Why did she feel so conflicted? Marinette had always had feelings for Adrien, but suddenly hearing Chat, who she had thought was wholly dedicated to her had moved on and started a family of his own? What if he got hurt while on the job? How would his son react? Who would take care of the monsters the boy faced if there was no Chat Noir?

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki was timidly making her way over to the young woman. She could see the confusion, hurt, and fear mingling together on her face. She wanted to tell her that Chat Noir was Adrien, and that would solve this entire situation, but she wasn't allowed to. That was Adrien's secret to tell, not hers.

"No, Tikki. I don't know- I- I know Chat always has my back, even if he has moved on. I'm happy he's moved on, that he's got a son and probably this amazing wife. He deserves to be happy. I just... I don't know. There was always a part of me that wondered, what if, you know? What if I told Chat Noir that I was Ladybug? What if we ended up falling in love and being together, assuming things didn't work out with Adrien. I just thought he would wait for me. I shouldn't have expected him to."

"You don't know the whole story, Marinette! Maybe there's more to it than that!"

"And what if there isn't?" Marinette took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. "I shouldn't complain. I'm back in Paric and I'm going to become one of the top designers in the world. I can always pursue Adrien. I'll finally get the nerve to confess to him."

"I'm sure he'd like that," Tikki smiled, sitting on her chosen's shoulder, knowing the blonde would be ecstatic to know Ladybug returned his feelings. "I know he would."

"Do you think him having a son makes things complicated? Like date nights and things? I mean, Romeo was really sweet, and I know it's not a deterrent for me, but what if Adrien doesn't return my feelings because I'm not good enough for Romeo?"

Tikki thought this was getting a bit ridiculous. Marinette needed to be more confident in herself. "Marinette, you're amazing! Romeo loved meet you and you're so good with kids."

"Thanks, Tikki. I just want to be good enough. I guess all that's left is to make sure I am good enough!" Marinette got out of the chair and made her way down the steps and into her room, smiling as the familiar scent of home washed over her. Her room smelled like paper, fabric, vanilla, with a hint of dust signifying the years without use. Marinette went to her desk and pulled out an old notebook and pencils, greeting them as if they were old friends. She began to draw. At first it was an elaborate dress, then a model wearing the dress, one that looked suspiciously like her. Then there was a man wearing a stylish button-down and jeans that looked suspiciously like Adrien. The models held hands and next to the woman was a freckled little boy. Next to the man was a little girl with her hair in pigtails. Marinette smiled upon completing the drawing and ripped it out of her sketchbook, hanging it up next to one of the posters of teenaged Adrien. She would be good enough for him, and she would win his heart.

* * *

 _Happy Friday, everyone! Y'all are so incredible. The amount of support this story is receiving is already. I'm blown away and I truly can't thank y'all enough. I hope you liked this chapter as well. Let me know your thoughts and I hope to see y'all again tomorrow!_


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

It was a bit embarrassing to wake up the next day staring at a sketch of her, Adrien, Romeo and a little girl she had made up, but it made Marinette smile nonetheless. There was something to hope for in her future now. "Why are you so bright this morning?"

Marinette sat up out of bed, looking for the source of the voice, rubbing her eyes, expecting to see Tikki ginning at her, but instead seeing her mother staring at her from the bottom level of her room. Marinette glanced at the picture quickly, then back down at her mother, trying to wave off the sudden rush of blood to her face. "No- no reason. Just had a nice dream, is all."

Her mother smirked and looked at her daughter, gracefully clasping her hands in front of her. "This nice dream wouldn't have to do with a certain Adrien Agreste, now would it?"

She climbed out of bed, carelessly throwing the comforter back over and haphazardly making it before going down to meet her mother, placing a kiss on the woman's cheek. "Mom, I'm not a kid anymore. My dreams don't _have_ to be about him to be a good one."

"Mmhmm," was the only response the woman gave. "Well, be sure to bring him by sometime. I haven't seen him around recently. I hear he has a son, now. Is that true?"

Marinette went to her childhood desk and began brushing her hair, smoothing out the completely out of control bedhead, trying to be productive while she spoke to her mother. "Yeah. His name is Romeo. He adopted him right after I went to America. Something happened to the mother and he happened to be around when it happened. I don't really know all the details. He doesn't like to talk about it, apparently."

"Well, if it was something tragic I don't blame him." Sabine walked over to her daughter and took the hairbrush out of her hands, beginning to brush the unruly mess herself. "Are you still in love with him?"

"Yeah, I am." There was no way she'd ever be able to lie to her mother. "I never stopped. I tried to date a couple of guys in America but the entire time I was just thinking about Adrien. Then I got that nannying job and all the spare time I had went to them, not that I didn't enjoy it. I loved watching after Zoey and Michael. My thoughts just kept drifting to Adrien," and Chat Noir, not that she could admit that out loud. "Do you think I'm crazy, Mom?"

Her mother placed a gentle kiss on the top of her daughter's head, chuckling slightly at how naive her daughter could be at times. "Maybe you are, but you're just in love. I was the same way when I met your father. I still am. Love makes us crazy, Marinette."

"I feel like I'm fifteen again when I'm around him. It's dumb, isn't it?"

"Not at all." Sabine brushed Marinette's hair in silence for a few more moments before grabbing a hair-tie, playing with the silky dark strands. "You'll never believe what I saw yesterday."

"What?"

"I looked out the window and saw Ladybug leaping across rooftops. She's been gone a while, but Chat Noir was following behind her, looking like a lost, love struck puppy like he always has. That poor boy is head over heels for her."

There was no way her mother could know that was impossible, that Chat had a life, a family. He wasn't pining after Ladybug anymore. Her best friend had moved on without her. "I don't think he loves her like that, Mama. I mean, maybe he did once but she was gone for years. He probably moved on and didn't wait for her."

Her mother shook her head, tying off the last pigtail in her daughter's hair. "That's not possible. I know what that look was. It's the same look your father has when he looks at me, or that you have when you talk about Adrien. It was love." Marinette wanted to push the subject, to tell her mother why that was impossible, but she held her tongue. Pressing the subject would just make her mother suspicious. "There, you're done. Now finish getting ready. You're looking for an apartment today, aren't you?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, hopefully. I've got a few places in mind, but they're a bit pricey. I'll have to see how things work out."

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Everything always works out for the best." Her mother left the room and Marinette went to her bathroom to finish getting ready, brushing her teeth and putting on a bit of light makeup to look presentable, before rummaging through her wardrobe, picking out a dress and sweater combo that she hoped made her look mature and responsible without trying too hard.

Her mother had muffins sitting on the counter for her in the kitchen with a glass of juice. Marinette knew she was welcome to stay in her parent's home as long as she needed, but she knew she needed to leave eventually. She was twenty-six. She was an adult and needed to act like it. She didn't need to be coddled by her mother -no matter how much she loved it- or eat nothing but her father's pastries all the time -no matter how delicious they were. Moving back to Paris was nice, but she was still independent. First an apartment, then a job. If luck was on her side then she'd have both of those things settled by the end of the week.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. After looking at seven different apartments she gave up for the day. All of them were either too expensive or too badly maintained. She resigned to going to the park and sketching a few designs to distract herself from her personal torment.

"Ladybug! Papa, Ladybug is back!"

"Romeo, I told you her name is Marinette." Marinette looked up from her sketchbook and saw Romeo pulling Adrien over, Adrien's free hand awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, a crooked smile on his face. Romeo plopped down next to Marinette, Adrien sitting down next to him. "Sorry about him. Romeo really likes you."

Romeo liked her? Well that was good. She thought the boy was absolutely charming. "It's no trouble. What are the two of you doing?"

"We're just walking back from his grandfather's. He spends Saturday's with him."

Romeo nodded his head up and down, akin to a bobblehead. "Yeah! Grandpa and I played hide-and-seek and I won! I hid behind his curtain and he wasn't able to find me."

"Wow! That's really clever of you, Romeo." Marinette indulged him and Romeo just gave her a toothy smile in return before turning his attention to his father. "Can I go get ice cream?"

Adrien sighed and looked at the ice cream Romeo was talking about. Andre the ice cream man had made his way to the park. He really shouldn't indulge his son's sweet tooth, but he liked the man and knew he would be sensible in what he gave the four year old. "Fine, but only one scoop." Adrien pulled out his wallet and passed a bill to the boy.

"Thank you, Papa!" Romeo hopped off the bench and ran over to the ice cream, excited.

"So, Marinette, why the long face?" So Adrien had noticed her disappointment. She really wasn't doing a good job of hiding it.

"I was looking for an apartment and wasn't able to find anything. Everything was either too expensive or not well maintained."

"Well, my house is too big for just me and Romeo. My dad insisted on buying me a house when I moved out and we really just use the first floor. If you want you can have the second floor all to yourself."

Marinette shook her head. "Oh, no, Adrien, that's incredibly nice of you to offer but I can't. That's too much."

"No, please, you would be doing me a favor. I'd feel a lot better knowing that the second floor was getting some use."

"Are you sure? How much would rent be?"

Adrien shrugged. "I'd say free, but something tells me you'd object to that."

"You're assumption is correct. I can't live in your home without paying anything."

"How about just a third of the utilities in the house, then? The first two would be used up by Romeo and myself, so that would be pretty fair. You can also decorate up there however you want. Seriously, we don't use it. It's just white walls and boring."

"You're too sweet, Adrien."

Adrien held out his hand for a handshake. "Do we have a deal?"

She looked at the hand, hesitating before taking it. This was almost too good to be true. No, not almost. It _was_ too good to be true. She needed to wake herself up from this dream, or maybe she really was the embodiment of good luck. She took his hand in hers, shaking it, attempting to ignore how much bigger his hand was than hers and how his touch was sending lightning through her veins and sending butterflies fluttering away in her stomach. "We have a deal"

"Papa, I got strawberry!" Romeo came walking back, slowing, carefully holding a frozen treat in each hand. "But he said this was for you and Marinette. It's got lots of flavors in it and I can't remember what he said, but he said you'd like it!"

The tips of both of their ears turned red. Andre gave ice cream to lovers, and they certainly weren't that, no matter how much Marinette wished they were. Adrien took the ice cream from the boy and shrugged at Marinette, taking one of the two spoons and offering it to her. She graciously took the spoon and placed a bite in her mouth, savoring the sweet flavor. The three sat in comfortable silence, eating their ice cream, watching the people of Paris pass them by.

"So," Adrien said once they had finished their ice cream, looking at Romeo, "I have some news for you."

"What?" Romeo's face was covered in the pink ice cream, forming a ring around his mouth, making him look rather comedic.

"You know how we have that upstairs area?"

"Yeah," Romeo nodded, looking at his dad with confusion. "What about it?"

"Well, Marinette is going to move in and take it."

Romeo's eyes lit up and Marinette could have sworn she was seeing the stars shine in them. "Are you really, Marinette? You're going to live with us?"

"Yeah. Your father is being really nice to me. I was trying to find a place and wasn't able to find one anywhere else. He's being really kind."

"Wow! That's amazing! Now we can be a family!" Romeo hugged Marinette, wrapping his little arms around her waist. " _Je t'adore,_ Marinette."

Little kids love so easily. The person they met on the playground just minutes ago can suddenly become their new best friend in just a matter of moments. That didn't stop her from being caught off guard by the statement, but she couldn't resist Romeo hugging her with all the might he could muster. She smoothed down his hair and hugged him back, letting herself become one with the freckle faced boy.

She didn't see Adrien watching the two of them, a smile spreading on his face. She didn't see the conflicting feelings he was experiencing, about how he wanted to see the sight of Marinette and his son everyday, but how he also didn't want to betray Ladybug. He had given her his heart years ago. Ladybug had just returned, but so had Marinette. If there was just one of them, perhaps he could figure out what his heart wanted him to do, but luck didn't seem to want to favor him. He'd have to settle for these little moments instead. He could figure out the rest later.

* * *

 _All of y'all are amazing. I can't believe the response this has gotten. I'm glad you are all enjoying it. I am having a blast writing this. Adrien and Marinette are fun to write for on their own, but adding Romeo into the mix is fun. I also just saw my community theatre put on a production of Mamma Mia and a lot of the inspiration for the first half of this chapter focusing on the relationship between Sabine and Marinette was inspired by that. Let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"So, you're letting Marinette move in with you?" Nino sat across from Adrien at one of their favorite cafe's, happily munching on a sandwich that was filled with meats and cheeses, no vegetables to be found, though condiments freely flowed out of the meal in a creamy light pinkish-brown sauce that would land on the plate. Nino would dip his fries into the fallen sauce before continuing to lecture Adrien. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Adrien rolled his eyes and stuck his fork into his grilled chicken that laid happily on a bed of pasta, covered by a thick white sauce that looked much more appealing to the model. "I wouldn't have offered her to space if I didn't think it was. Really, she needed a place to live and I'm able to provide her that. I don't see why that's a bad idea. Romeo likes her, she's one of my best friends, I'm sure she'd be okay with babysitting if I was ever in a pinch, and I can give her a good word for my father so she can get hired for a nice company. It's a winning situation for everyone."

Except that Marinette is totally in love with you. Nino had to resist saying that out loud. After so many years he had expected something to happen between the two, like Marinette leaving her feelings in the dust, or Adrien asking the poor girl out on a date, but nothing like that had ever happened. After Marinette went to America and Adrien adopted Romeo, it didn't seem like anything ever would. "What if the two of you get in a fight? Or aren't compatible roommates? What if she's a mess and looks like a troll first thing in the morning?" Nino didn't think that any of the things he was saying were true, but he was willing to say anything to get his friend out of this situation. He cared about both Marinette and Adrien too much to see them live as awkward roommates when they could be together romantically. The two of them were perfect for each other!

"You're being ridiculous. If we get in a fight we talk it out and make up like other people do. We're not roommates. Marinette is renting out a floor. That's her space so I have no right to go up there. If she's a mess I won't know because I won't be going to her space because she's renting it, and I really doubt Marinette could look like a troll if she tried." Adrien finished his reply and shoved a bite of chicken and pasta in his mouth, rolling his eyes. What was going on with Nino?

"Are you sure there aren't any ulterior motives for asking her to move in?" Nino brushed his glasses further up his nose, something he did only when he was trying to find out information.

"What are you getting at?"

"I mean, are you not into Marinette? I mean, she's pretty, nice, smart, into fashion, good with kids, what's not to like? Did you invite her to live with you because you have a crush on her or something?"

Ah, there it was. Nino was worried because he thought Adrien had feelings for the girl. Honestly, in an alternate reality, he probably would have. He liked, no, loved everything that made Marinette, Marinette. He could have easily given his heart to her long ago if it hadn't already been stolen by someone else. "Trust me, Nino. That's not what's going on her. Marinette is just a friend. I love her, but there is really nothing going on between us."

He relented. Nino wasn't going to get Adrien to admit to his crush on Marinette today. He loved his bro, but he was incredibly stubborn. He was harboring that same crush that he had on Ladybug from when he was a teenager, but he couldn't see the perfect girl standing right in front of him. Nino wanted Marinette and Adrien to get together, which is precisely why he didn't want them to live together. If they lived together they would just grow more and more platonic until, eventually, there would be no spark between them whatsoever. "Fine. Fine. Just don't be mad if someone else comes in and steals her away, then you'll realize how much of an idiot you were because you didn't see what was right in front of you."

Adrien put down his silverware, his heart rate starting to increase, not that he noticed. The thought of Marinette being stolen away by someone else made him uneasy, though he couldn't really pinpoint why. "Who would steal her away?"

Nino inwardly gave a fist-pump. He had baited the hook, and now all that was left was to get the bite. "There are lots of people. Nate in lycée was head over heels for her, and I know she dated a few people in America. Remember when I had a crush on her? Really, I'm surprised no one has stolen her away yet. Marinette's a catch."

"Well- yeah I mean, she is, and I'm sure there's someone out there that would be perfect for her-"

Nino crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, smirking. "Like you?"

"Yeah, like me-" Adrien realized his mistake a moment too late because Nino was now smiling in victory. "No- wait. I didn't mean it like that."

"Then how did you mean it?"

"I just meant-"

Adrien wouldn't have a chance to finish because as soon the moment he tried to defend himself a blast of cold air filled the room and everything turned to ice. Adrien looked around to find the source, seeing a woman with white skin and a black dress gliding away from them. Adrien ran out before Nino could stop him, looking around quickly and desperately for an alley to hide in. "You know, your friend with the glasses has a point. You should _really_ ask Marinette out sometime."

"Not the time Plagg."

The black creature shrugged, looking bored with the whole situation. "I'm just saying."

"I don't have time for this right now. We'll talk about it later. Plagg, claws out!"

Adrien was transformed into Chat Noir and hew as ready to chase after the akuma that was turning the nice day into an icy hell. He looked for the signs of ice thickening and was quickly able to catch up to the girl. He didn't manage to get a good look at her from the view of the cafe, but it was obvious not that she was once a figure skater. The ice skates on her feet were black, contrasting starkly against her paper white skin. Everything about her was black or white, her hair held in a tight bun atop her head and the mask that covered her face shone like midnight against the white of her face and the snow and ice around her. "Wow, the weather outside really is frightful," Chat said, smirking at his own joke. The girl spun around on her skates and glared at him.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Chat made a show of rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, making his way to the akuma, measuring her up with his eyes while he attempted to banter. He could get a feel for his opponents this way. He could find out where their akuma was hiding. It was possible it was hiding her her ice skate, but he had no idea how he was going to get that from her. He really needed his lady here to help him out. "You know what, that's alright. The cold never bothered me anyway."

Ice surrounded the girl and she glared at him with icy blue eyes. She was going to attempt to freeze him. He didn't think that he would be able to handle what she had in store for him. He grabbed his baton and sprung out of the way, launching himself out of the way. "You know, I don't really want to be turned into a _pawsicle_ today, but I appreciate the thought." Chat landed on a nearby roof, only to see Ladybug land beside him.

" _Pawsicle,_ really?"

"You know you missed my puns while you were away, M'Lady."

She wasn't listening to him. She was focusing on the villain in front of them. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she watched the girl create her own snowstorm. "Chat I need you to go in and-" she stopped, looking at him with wide eyes. "You know what, I'll go in and distract her and you go in from behind and Cataclysm her skates."

He was against the idea. What if she got frozen? Then the akuma would be able to escape and with no way to purify it it would just wreak havoc all over Paris. "No, I'm not going to let you do that! I'll distract her and you trip her up with your yoyo when she isn't looking. When she's down I'll go in for the Cataclysm and destroy the skates and you can purify the akuma."

"No! You can't be the bait, Chat. I don't want to do that to you anymore. What if you get hurt?"

"That hasn't stopped me before!"

"You didn't have a son and a wife before?"

Wife? Clearly there was some misunderstanding. He didn't have time to argue, though. The akuma was getting away. "We'll talk about this later, M'Lady. Our first priority is to Paris."

Chat leapt off the roof. He wasn't worried. If something happened to him he knew Romeo would be well taken care of. His father would take him in, or Alya and Nino. Hell, he knew Marinette would make sure he was happy as well. That's why he was able to put himself out like this. He knew he had to come back, for Romeo's sake, but if he let fear stop him then he wouldn't be the hero he wanted to prove to his son he could be.

He ran out in front of the akumatized victim and ran around, causing her to shoot ice at him. He ran, looking over his shoulder, until he saw she was tangled up in the wires of a yoyo. He called out for his power and hit the skates with his hand, releasing an akuma into the air. Ladybug pulled the yoyo free and captured the butterfly and released it into the air, purifying it, before setting everything back to normal.

He held out his fist for a fist bump when he felt her punch him in the arm instead. "Ow!"

"Stupid! You stupid, stupid cat! Don't put yourself in danger like that. What if something happened to you? What would your family think?" It was easy to see she was pissed.

His ring started to ring out, reminding him of his limited time. "M'Lady, I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding."

"What's there to misunderstand? You were talking to your son the other day! What would he do without his father?"

"I'm fine, Ladybug! I can't let you throw yourself into the danger. Paris would be helpless without you!"

"You're wife would be helpless without you, wouldn't she?"

Wife? Where was that coming from. "Wait, what? Wife?" His ring beeped again. He was running out of time.

"Your son's mother?"

He shook his head. "Ladybug, I'm not married. There's a lot of... circumstances around my son and I can't really talk about them without getting into my personal life, but I promise you there is no one else, Bugaboo. You're the only bug for this cat." Guilt flashed through him as he said this, an image of Marinette popping up in his head. "Listen, Ladybug, we'll talk about this later. I've got to go." He took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the back of it before running away.

His lady had really thought there was another woman in his life? There wasn't. His heart only belonged to those bluebell eyes. He closed his own and pictured them in his mind, but when he saw them appear in his thoughts he couldn't tell if they were his lady's or his friend's. Maybe there was something to what Nino was saying, after all.

* * *

 _Alright, so fanfiction was being totally weird when trying to upload this... Anyone else been having trouble with the site not letting you do things? The other day I was having trouble with forums and today it was getting the document for this story set up. Oh well. It got up at least! Fun fact: the name of this fanfic did not originate from the story Romeo and Juliet, but rather the Vocaloid song Romeo and Cinderella. If you have watched/heard it or go watch or listen to it, it frankly has nothing to do with the story and Romeo in that would be Adrien and not Romeo. Well, thank you all so much for your support. You all are blowing me away! I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

They waited until Saturday to move Marinette in so Romeo would be out of the way. That turned out to be a good thing. Alya and Nino came over to help, and they happened to bring a bottle of wine. The four adults drank through the bottle fairly quickly, and, while none of them were drunk, they were all at least slightly buzzed, giggling through the process. Marinette dropped a box from the second story and the contents happened to fall out on top of Adrien. Unfortunately the box was full of an assortment of underwear, most of it lace because Marinette claimed it was the most comfortable, and a variety of bras. It was difficult to tell who was more embarrassed, and neither of them made eye contact with the other for a while.

Eventually all the boxes were brought up and all that was left as an assortment of furniture- bed, couch, shelves, etcetera. The four of them spent two hours hauling the pieces up before deciding they needed a break. "Nino and I will go pick up food for everyone. You two can start unpacking boxes, alright?" Of course, this was part of Alya and Nino's, mostly Alya's, plan to get Marinette and Adrien alone. She wanted to see the two of them get together, even after all these years. "We'll let you know where we're going! Text me what you want!" They then ran off down the stairs and left the house, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone.

Immediately, the two slumped onto the couch that they had just brought up, catching their breaths, both not realizing that lifting heavy boxes and furniture would make them so out of breath. "So," Adrien said, after a moment, "you excited to live here?"

"Y-yeah." Marinette bobbed her head up and down, immediately regretting the action and finding herself somewhat dizzy. She brought her head up to her forehead and leaned back, letting the blood flow back.

"Are you alright?" Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her, eyes wide, his mouth open slightly, his blonde hair tousled, a hint of sweat shining on him, making it seem like he was glowing. Marinette couldn't tear her eyes away. "I'll go get you some water."

Adrien got up from the couch and went to fetch a glass from downstairs and Marinette felt dizzy again for an entirely different reason. This was stupid. She didn't need to go through this right now. Even if she was in love with him, all she needed was his friendship. That would be enough for now. Adrien returned a moment later with two glasses of water in hand, passing one of them to Marinette. " _Merci beaucoup,_ " she replied, genuinely grateful for the beverage. They down the drinks quickly and Marinette felt the back of her neck getting hot. If Adrien, with his model workout was getting sweaty there was no doubt she was a mess. She pulled a hair tie from her wrist and pulled her hair that was previously hanging loose on her shoulders up into a pony tail, half of the hair falling out and covering the back of her neck because it was too short to stay in the elastic.

"I like your hair like that," Adrien said, smiling at her. "It's cute."

"Really?" Personally, she thought it looked like a mess when it was like this, but she wasn't going to be the one to contradict him. "Well, thank you."

"You're welcome." Silence washed over the two of them. What was she supposed to say to him? They hadn't seen one another in years and now he was suddenly her landlord and, sort of, roommate? She just had to play it safe. "I know you're okay with me moving in, but is Romeo?"

A tired smile spread across Adrien's face. "Yeah, he's really excited. I'll tell him that upstairs is still off limits, but he's excited to see you around the house. He really believes you're Ladybug."

"Oh yeah?"

"He's been bragging to all his friends that he is going to live with Ladybug. He probably needs to take it down a notch, actually. I'm afraid someone might actually believe him and and send Hawkmoth to our doorstep."

Marinette laughed. If Hawkmoth showed up on their doorstep there would be no need to worry. She would be able to capture the villain, finally. She couldn't tell that to Adrien, though. "I'm not worried. I'm sure Chat Noir would come in and save me if that happened."

"Are you a fan of Chat Noir?" Adrien seemed to perk up, the exhaustion evaporating from his eyes. "I mean, Paris seems to be obsessed with Ladybug. Chat is just kind of seen as her sidekick, isn't he?"

Marinette opened her mouth to respond but was distracted by her phone going off. "He's not her sidekick," she replied, reading the text, seeing it was from Alya. "They're picking up Japanese. What do you want?"

"Whatever sushi the place recommends." Marinette quickly typed out Adrien's order before adding her own, an order of fried rice, before focusing her attention back on Adrien.

"Anyway, Chat isn't Ladybug's sidekick, or, at least I don't think she sees him that way. They're partners. They'd be nothing without each other."

"Don't you think he holds her back sometimes?" There was no anger in his eyes like most people had when discussing the topic of the heroes. Most people were heated and were very much pro Ladybug or pro Chat Noir, and they would defend their choice of hero to the death. It was relaxing to have an easy-going conversation about the heroes.

"What's wrong with holding her back? She can be impulsive at times. People see her as the brains of the duo, and Chat as the brawn, but I think they're on equal footing. They would sacrifice theirselves for the other in a heartbeat."

Something was sparkling in Adrien's eyes. Joy, pride? Something. "So you are a fan of Chat?"

"Of course!" She looked at Adrien, giving him a somewhat shy smile. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"Well, it became common knowledge that I worked with Chat Noir when Nathanael was akumatized, but I met him another time too." She hadn't told anyone besides Tikki about the time she spent with Chat Noir a few years ago, the time she accidentally broke his heart. "Something happened between him and Ladybug, I guess, and he landed on my balcony. He had prepared a surprise for her, but I don't think she realized how much he cared about her. I had never seen someone so broken-hearted." She remembered looking into her partner's eyes and seeing how lost he looked, confused. "He was genuine, sweet, and I think that makes him a great parter... to her, I mean."

Why was her heart speeding up at the thought of that memory? It happened long ago. She had no feelings for Chat at the time. She didn't feel anything for him now, but what was the warmth rising in her chest?

"I'm sure that meant a great deal to him, being able to go to you for help. He probably has a very high opinion of you."

Marinette sighed. "Maybe. I might have also just been at the right place at the right time." She looked into Adrien's emerald eyes and gave him a large smile. "So, what about you? Ladybug or Chat Noir?"

"Ladybug." There was no hesitation in his voice, and he spoke with so much conviction that she felt a rush of blood go to her face. Luckily, it didn't seem like he noticed.

"What do you like about her?" She probably shouldn't ask questions about her alter ego, but she couldn't resist. She wanted to hear what the love of her life had to say about her other self.

"She's amazing. She's smart, and obviously cares about Paris. She is always doing what's right and when she messes up she fixes it." A dreamy look and a crooked smile appeared on his face. "She's beautiful, too. Her hair is dark like night, her eyes are the most amazing shade of blue," Adrien stopped, looked at Marinette, sizing her up, "like you, actually." He rolled his shoulders back and leaned his neck against the back cushion of the couch. "I guess she's just an amazing hero. I've had the privilege to meet her a few times and every time was, well, mirac-" Adrien shook his head, swallowing the pun before it left his mouth, "-magical. Yeah, magical."

Marinette didn't know what to think of the praise. Adrien thought this highly of her? Well, her other self? That look he had was strikingly similar to the one Chat had when he admitted his love to her. Did Adrien have feelings for her- Ladybug? Was it possible for her to feel jealous about herself? Everything was so confusing. She had never wanted to tell someone who she was so badly. If she could just put on the mask and show Adrien that the girl who sat next to him was the red-clad super heroine... She had to stop. If anyone was going to learn her secret identity, it would be Chat. He deserved to know after all this time. He was her partner and best friend. He would always be by her side, no matter what. Why did she get that feeling from Adrien as well?

"We're back!" The front door opened and Alya and Nino went to the kitchen downstairs, placing the to-go containers on the counter, grabbing plates and placing the entrees and chopsticks onto them. "Did you two get anything done?"

Adrien and Marinette looked at one another and laughed. "No, we just talked, really."

"That's cool!" Alya grabbed her plate and went to the living room, sitting down in front of Adrien's television, Nino sitting next to her. "Why don't we watch a movie while we eat, then we can finish up? We got all the hard stuff out of the way, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Marinette responded. "Now it's just unpacking. You guys really don't have to stay for that part. It'll mostly be me putting things into drawers and closets and onto shelves."

"Nonsense! We're in this until the end, girl!" Alya then went to the movie collection, browsing through, skipping past all of the children's movies that belonged to Romeo before finally settling on the romantic comedy, Amelie. There was a method to her madness. Watching a film about love would certainly spark something between the two of them. She cuddled with Nino when she finished, sparing glances at her friends, annoyed neither of them seemed to be making a move towards one another. What did they talk about while she and Nino were gone? The whole point of the two of them leaving by themselves was to give Adrien and Marinette time to be alone. The two of them were going to cause her to pull out her hair eventually.

The rest of the unpacking went by smoothly with the four adults working efficiently, happy, with full stomachs, until six came and Gabriel came by, dropping off Romeo.

There was another thirty minutes of unpacking while Alya kept Romeo entertained with fantastic stories until Nino made his way down the stairs, exhausted. "Alright, babe, I think it's time we head out."

"Alright. It's been fun guys!" They left shortly after, leaving Adrien, Marinette and Romeo. Both Adrien and Marinette were saddened to know they never really got a chance to go out and be a hero for the night. They would have to wait until an akuma attacked again, or until next Saturday. Both were thinking back on the conversation from that afternoon, thoughts of their partner swirling through their heads, both with conflicting feelings.

Marinette loved Adrien, but what was that cat doing lingering in her thoughts?

Adrien loved Ladybug, but why was he so distracted by how blue Marinette's eyes were?

* * *

 _Not a lot happened in this chapter. Sorry, but the upcoming ones are going to be where things get interesting, so I'll see y'all then, okay? Let me know your thoughts! I really appreciate it._


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The following few weeks were peaceful enough. Marinette lived at Adrien and Romeo's house and found herself cooking meals for the two boys, after discovering they had been living off of takeout and frozen dinners for the past few years. They had been surprised at first, but were adapting to the homemade meals happily, Romeo smiling every time he saw that his plate was made especially for him.

Another thing Marinette discovered was Adrien was horrible at cleaning. She hadn't realized it at first because he wasn't a messy person. Everything in the house was put away in it's place, the bookshelves lined nicely with an assortment of nerdy collectables and books, but everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. She had been sneezing for hours after she started cleaning to the point Adrien made her lay down on the couch because he thought she was sick.

She blamed the lack of cooking and cleaning skills on his upbringing, knowing he didn't need to master any of these skills while he was living in the mansion. She wasn't going to let Romeo have the same sad skill set as his father, though. Every opportunity she had she let him help out in the kitchen and make dinner, or turned sweeping and dusting into a game. She showed him how to properly fold a blanket and a towel (because Adrien's were all crooked messes) and praised him every time he did it correctly (then refolded them when he wasn't looking because he was four and no matter how hard he tried he was never going to fold a blanket perfectly). She had tried to show Adrien these skills as well, but when he somehow ripped a towel and burned water (she still had no idea how he managed to do that) she gave up and told him she would take care of it. Adrien pouted at his uselessness, but Marinette happened to be making cookies at the time and let Adrien lick the spoon, which caused him to perk up. It was like she was dealing with two children.

At nights Marinette would sneak out of the window in her room and transform into Ladybug, scouring Paris for signs of trouble, or signs of Chat Noir, but figured out after a few weeks that he only appeared on Saturdays or days when an akuma attacked. Those days were becoming rarer and rarer and Ladybug had seen less and less of her partner. She missed him. She thought things would go back to normal when she returned, be like it was when they were teenagers, but that couldn't be further from the truth. She still didn't know what the whole situation was between Chat and his son, but whenever she tried to bring it up something -usually lack of time- would interrupt them and they would have to go their separate ways.

Adrien loved having Marinette at the house. She made everything feel so alive. Everything was much brighter than it was before she moved in, but he couldn't tell what it was that she did to cause that. There was a distinct lack of dust on the shelves, so maybe that was it. There was also an assortment of plug in's in various outlets that made the kitchen and living room smell like vanilla, the bathrooms smell like linens, Romeo's room smell like lavender and chamomile (which he knew she did on purpose because the scent was inherently calming) and his room smell like pine. He didn't know when she went out and bought all of those but he was grateful to her for doing so. It covered up the smell of camembert that always seemed to linger. Plagg was unhappy, but was quickly appeased by a large wheel of the cheese he was so fond of.

There were times he really wished she was Ladybug. It would make things easier. He could just admit to falling in love with his friend instead of allowing the two girls play tug-of-war with his heartstrings. That was another development since she moved in. Adrien found himself become attracted to the woman. At first he claimed it was an instinctual thing, a pretty woman living in his house, who wouldn't be attracted? Then it didn't go away. She was setting his heart on fire. The world seemed to glow when she was around. He walked in on Marinette reading to Romeo in the living room one day and he had to stop to catch his breath.

What about Ladybug? It was different with her. She didn't glow, and she didn't set his heart on fire. No, he swore every akuma she purified and released found its way to his stomach where it fluttered every time he saw her. She didn't glow like Marinette, but rather shined like the brightest star in the sky. He didn't know which was better, and he felt bad for betraying both girls, but it was the truth.

One Friday night, a month after Marinette had moved in, about an hour after Romeo had been dropped off at his grandfather's, she was in the kitchen tying an apron around her, using a headband to pull her hair out of her face so she could concentrate on the dessert she was making. She had turned on some music and was singing along lightly as she read a cookbook that was sitting open on the counter. Various ingredients were scattered around, sitting in measuring cups and bowls. Adrien let out a small cough to catch her attention, smiling when he saw a bit of flour dusted on her cheek. "What are you doing?" he asked, slowly walking up to her. He placed his thumb on her cheek and wiped off the excess flour. She froze under his touch and he found himself looking into her sapphire eyes.

"I- uh," she pulled away after a moment, looking flustered, "I'm baking some cookies. I'm seeing a friend tomorrow and wanted to give him some."

"A friend?" Adrien repeated, though that wasn't the word he was fixated on. _Him._ Who was him? A friend from school perhaps?

"Yeah, I don't see him as much as I would like so I thought I would make him a surprise. Do you want to help? I'll let you lick the spoon?" Adrien didn't like the thought of Marinette baking cookies for someone other than him, but he wasn't going to refuse Marinette's offer.

"Sure!"

Turns out they were making Ladybug and Chat Noir themed sugar cookies. He got to use the cookie cutter, proud of how his circles turned out, and licked the spoon while they waited for the cookies to bake. Marinette started to clean up, and Adrien offered to help, before Marinette reminded him of the last time he tried to help clean up and he somehow broke a metal cookie sheet in half. He relented and she cleaned up her mess, tripping and dropping three eggs on the floor at one point, causing Adrien to laugh. She finished cleaning just as the timer for the cookies went off. She pulled them off the sheet and put them into the fridge to cool while she made black, red and green icing and iced the cookies beautifully, passing one of the completed ones to Adrien before wrapping them up in a round box lined with tissue paper. He was jealous of whoever would end up with a box of the most insanely delicious cookies in the world.

That night Adrien went to sleep, and tossed and turned in his bed. His normally cool sheets were stifling him. He dreamt he was trapped between a firefly and a star, both attacking him relentlessly, declaring that if he cared about either of them he would make a choice. He couldn't have both. He couldn't be in love with both girls. He could have Marinette or Ladybug, and, at this point, he really didn't know who to pick.

He slept in the next morning, which was something he never did. Marinette knocked on his door which woke him up. "Adrien, are you alright?"

Dripping with sweat and incredibly confused, but otherwise he was alright. "Yeah, I'm fine! I just stayed up too late watching Netflix last night. I guess I overslept."

"Oh, alright. Well I'm going out for a while. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay!" Adrien listened for the front door to open then shut before rolling over and screaming into his pillow.

"You've got it bad, kid."

"Shut up, Plagg," he replied into his pillow, causing the kwami to laugh.

Eventually Adrien dragged himself out of bed and went to take a shower, brushed his teeth, and put on clothes before raiding the fridge, resolving to eat an apple for breakfast, late very breakfast since it was now approaching noon, before deciding it was time to put on his superhero mask. "Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg was sucked into the ring and Chat Noir escaped the house through a side window. He leapt from building to building, flipping and doing tricks with his baton like he was seventeen again. "You seem excited about something, kitty." He heard a voice from behind him. Those stupid butterflies came back.

"Excited to see you, M'Lady." He gave her a playful bow and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. He was surprised to see she didn't pull away, but instead seemed bashful, refusing to make eye contact with him, looking at an, apparently, very interesting cloud in the sky. "So, what do you want to do today? Catch some bad guys? Take some names?"

"Actually," Ladybug laced her hand around his. What was going on? "I was hoping we could talk? I have a little surprise waiting for you at the Eiffel Tower."

"Of course. Do you want to race there?"

"Oh come on, kitty. We're not kids anymore."

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a playful smirk. "So you think you'll lose?"

"Never." She bolted off and he was left to chase her. He didn't mind though. He was happy to follow her every step.

They made it to the Eiffel Tower and she threw her hands up in the air. "Victory!"

"I let you win!" He had to make it seem like he had actually tried to beat her.

" _Sure_ you did. Come on. We have some _cat_ ching up to do."

His heart soared hearing his lady make a joke purely for his amusement. He sat down, and she sat next to him, pulling out a circular shaped box and passing it to him. "I might have made you a present. Well, my friend and I. He helped."

"Y-you shouldn't have." Why was she giving him this? What did he do to deserve it? He opened the box and parted the tissue paper, seeing ladybugs and black cats staring back at him. Very familiar ladybugs and black cats. He was frozen.

"Do you like it? I know you have a son so I was trying to think of something you could share with... are you okay, Chat?"

"Huh?" He wasn't listening because he was staring at the cookies in the box. His gaze turned to her when she said his name and it wasn't Ladybug's eyes he was staring into, but Marinette's. Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette was Ladybug. His heart accelerated. Those stupid butterflies were catching on fire. His head was getting light and sweat was starting to form on his brow.

"You don't look good, Chat." She looked concerned, but her downcast face told him that she was disappointed. She had wanted to spend the day with Chat. She had made him these cookies. He was ruining it with this revelation. "Why don't you go home and rest, alright? We can do this next week." She placed a kiss on his cheek and jumped off the tower, using her yoyo to catch herself.

Adrien wasn't sure how he got home, but he arrived and placed the cookies in his underwear drawer, the one place he knew was safe from both Romeo and Marinette. What on earth was he supposed to do? He now who the love of his life was. It was the girl who had stolen his heart.

* * *

 _I think this is the first time I've done a reveal outside a one-shot... I hope I did it justice! Cookies seem to always pop up in my reveals... somehow. Oops. Well, guys, y'all are incredible! Seriously. My experience with kids Romeo's age in real life is really just a little girl I babysat the summer I was nineteen and my cousin's son, who, fun story, over Christmas cried because "his cheesecake was broken." He took a bite and broke his cheesecake. It was pretty funny. Thank y'all so much and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

If Adrien had been thinking clearly then he would have told Marinette who he was immediately after discovering she was Ladybug. Unfortunately his mind was swirling because how on earth did he miss something as big as Marinette being Ladybug? It made sense when he thought about it. The connections were clearly there. Physically, they were identical, with that beautiful raven hair, bright blue eyes, and spattering of freckles on the nose that were kind of like her own ladybug spots, but it extended beyond that.

Both girls were kind, like Marinette helping around the house because goodness knows his father never taught him how to properly clean or cook and any attempt on his part ended in disaster (he had a housekeeper coming in once a month or so), or her reading to Romeo when he begged her to even though he knew she was incredibly busy designing and attempting to become recognized by the fashion world. Ladybug always consoled the akumatized victims, helping them to their feet and giving them encouraging words before swinging off to keep her identity from being revealed. When he was Chat Noir and was having a bad day he knew she would always be there to care for him, even if she just responded to him with an eye roll or shrug, because that smile that was on her face when she did so told him she liked it.

The girls were both incredibly creative. Adrien could see the inner workings of Marinette's mind every time he happened to glance at one of her designs. Bright colors and patters would scatter over different pages, the ink like her blood on the pages. He could see that same creativity in Ladybug when she used her Lucky Charm. She came up with these fantastic plans, turning an everyday item into something that would save them in the end.

Why had it taken him so long to figure out who she was? He supposedly loved Ladybug. Why couldn't he see that she had been staring him in the face since lycée, sitting right behind him, or halfway across the world when they both went missing at the same time, or when they both came back? Why couldn't he see it when she moved upstairs and looked at him everyday with those Ladybug eyes? Could he really say he loved her?

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands, contemplating all of this, when he heard a knock at his door. "C-come in!" he choked out in an attempt to sound normal. Ladybug- no, Marinette opened the door and stuck her head in.

"I was just checking on you. Are you okay?" She opened the door a little wider and stepped inside, crossing her arms across her body, her eyes downcast, shoulders hunched ever so slightly. She went to stand next to his dresser, the box of cookies sitting in his underwear drawer, which was wide open.

He sprung to his feet, trying to quickly make his way to close the drawer without looking like he was intercepting Marinette or looking like a complete idiot. He really didn't want to look like an idiot in front of her. "Uh, y-yeah. Fine. Why are you asking?"

"Well, you seemed like you were a bit out of it this morning. You slept in, which you don't really do." Her eyes widened, her hands coming to her face, covering her suddenly slack-jawed expression. "You weren't trying to sleep in, were you? I didn't wake you up or anything?"

He rapidly shook his head back and forth, glancing slightly at the drawer that was open in front of her. He begged her not to look in it. He walked closer to her, shutting it quickly and smoothly as he walked by. "No! Not at all! I was just having a hard time sleeping last night."

"Oh," Marinette's voice grew smaller, rising about four pitches, "well I'm sorry for waking you up. I just didn't know if you were sick." She turned around, attempting to leave the room.

He didn't want her to leave. Is wasn't like she was leaving the house. She would just be beyond that door, but even that seemed like it was too far of a distance for him to be separated from his lady. There had to be some way to remedy this situation. "Do you want to watch a movie?" he called out after her.

She stopped, her eyes pointed at the floor. "I- I don't know. I was thinking of going upstairs and taking a nap, or something."

Where was her usual spark? Where was her lively- this was his fault. He had run out on her as Chat Noir, leaving her high and dry with no explanation. She was probably upset by his, well, his alter ego's actions and was trying to not be upset around him. He had to make this up to her.

"Come on, Mari. We can watch whatever we want. Romeo is at my father's house for a few more hours. It can be just the two of us." He was praying she agreed to do this with him. He had to lift her spirits and he didn't really know how to do so. "I have all the Studio Ghibli movies."

Marinette finally lifted her head to look at him. "All of them?"

"Every last one. Nino and I, a few years back, decided we were going to watch all of them and rank them from best to worse. We can watch whichever one you want." From his experience it took a special kind of person to say no to a Studio Ghibli film.

"Well, I don't think I could ever say no to Castle in the Sky." Marinette made her way to Adrien's bed and leaned back, propping herself up on one of his pillows, facing the screen, grabbing the throw from the end of the bed and placing it over herself.

"Great!" He went to the cabinet and grabbed the movie, placing the blu-ray into his Playstation and turning on the television, making himself comfortable next to Marinette, attempting to grab the throw and share it with her, only to have her playfully pull it away and burrow herself further into the soft material. He resolved to casually throw an arm around her shoulders and pull her close to him, vaguely aware of the blush spreading on both his and Marinette's cheeks. His fifteen year old self could only dream of having Ladybug in his arms (casually) watching a Studio Ghibli movie at his side, in his bed.

They watched the movie like this, immensely enjoying themselves, though neither was loud about it. Halfway through the movie though he felt a weight on his shoulder, seeing Marinette's head resting there, her eye's closed, breathing softly, letting out a small snore every now and then which he found adorable. He placed a kiss on her top of her head, whispering into her hair, "I love you, Princess," wishing he had the nerve to tell her when she was awake. She didn't stir.

His own eyes began to feel heavy, the characters on the screen becoming fuzzy. He couldn't understand what they were saying, or what was happening in the film, until everything faded away, his head resting against Marinette's.

Loud banging caused them both to bolt up, Marinette's head hitting Adrien's nose, causing a bit of blood to appear. "Ow!" he rubbed his nose and Marinette rubbed the back of her head, before looking at what she had done, horror spreading across her features. "I'm so sor-"

Loud banging once again. "Adrien? Are you in there?" Adrien couldn't mistake that voice. It was his father. Adrien glanced at his phone, realizing with horror it was two hours after he was supposed to pick up Romeo. He ran to the front door, Marinette following, both looking like complete messes, blood dripping from Adrien's nose, a bit of dried drool on the corner of Marinette's mouth, their clothes crooked and hair frizzy and disarrayed. Adrien looked at the duo with shock, Romeo smiling up at them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt... Romeo why don't we go back to my house for tonight."

"Oh," Adrien looked at Marinette, then his father, then back at Marinette who was staring at his father in horror. "No! We weren't- I mean, we were watching a movie and fell asleep."

"Really?" Gabriel tried to get his own flushed look under control. It was a relief for him to hear he wasn't... interrupting.

"Really. We were watching Castle in the Sky and fell asleep and I guess we were both really tired."

"Why did you take a nap on purpose?" Romeo asked, looking at the two adults confused.

Adrien smiled, looking down at the little boy. "Because little goobers like you keep us up every other day of the week. We have to find time to sleep somewhere!" He turned his attention back to his father. "Thank you for looking after him."

"You know it's the highlight of my week, son. I'll see you next Friday, if not sooner." Gabriel closed the door and left the house, Adrien exchanging a look with Marinette.

"He didn't believe us, did he?" the girl ventured.

"I don't think he did."

"Grandpa didn't believe you what, Papa? Did you lie to Grandpa? I thought we weren't supposed to tell lies!"

He had just woken up from a very nice nap and he was already exhausted again. It was just past eight, though, and Adrien could see the little boy's eyes starting to droop. "We're not supposed to tell lies. Now come on. It's bedtime."

Romeo shook his head, running away from Adrien and going to stand behind Marinette, who he mistakenly thought would protect him. She didn't. She scooped him up in her arms and blew a raspberry on his stomach, causing the little boy to giggle uncontrollably. "No!" He kicked and screamed, trying to escape Marinette's grip, but she held onto him.

"Come on, Romeo. You need to go to bed so you can grow up super big and strong. How else do you think Chat Noir fights all those bad guys. Didn't you say you were going to be Chat Noir when you grew up?" It was strange to see Marinette talk to Romeo about him, without her realizing that he was standing right behind her.

"I'll just ask Papa how to be Chat Noir and he can tell me." Romeo crossed his arms defiantly and Marinette placed him on the floor, taking one of his little hand's in hers.

"Come on. If you go to bed now I'll read you a story."

"Alright." Romeo followed Marinette to his bedroom, Adrien taking up the rear. He tucked Romeo into bed and placed a kiss on the boy's forehead, watching as Marinette grabbed one of the books and started to read it to him, taking care to show him the pictures on each page, until Romeo finally drifted off to sleep.

They quietly left the room and made their way to the living room, sitting on the couch, not saying anything and just letting the peace and quiet wash over them. "This is nice," Adrien eventually said.

"Yeah," she agreed, leaning against one of the couches arms. "I'm sorry I fell asleep during the movie. I didn't realize how tired I was."

"I didn't either. It's totally fine." He paused and looked up at her, giving her his best Chat Noir smile. "It was the best nap I've had in a while."

"Me too."

"Go on a date with me?"

"Yeah," she replied softly, instantly, before the words he said dawned on her. "Wait, what?"

"Go on a date with me, Marinette. I'd love to take you out."

"I- um, alright. I'd love to." She pulled her knees to her chest, pressing her face into her legs, shyness taking over. It didn't matter. Adrien was cheering inside. He had a date with Marinette. He had a date with Ladybug. His fifteen year old self had died and gone to heaven.

* * *

 _So last chapter y'all made this my most reviewed story! That's incredible! You guys are truly wonderful. I've loved every single one of the reviews and really do take what they say into consideration, both good and bad! I know that I'm not perfect and have room to grow. I tried to clear up a few messy points from the last chapter with this chapter in particular. Y'all are all amazing and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"Adrien asked you on a date?" Marinette had the phone sitting on a desk in the corner of her room. She had her sketchbook open, drawing out designs, or attempted to, constantly distracted by the small doodle hearts she placed in the pages corners, unable to concentrate on the dress she was designing. Her laptop was open on the corner of her desk, YouTube open, watching a video series on unsolved mysteries, letting her mind wander. She had paused the video when Alya called her, assaulting Marinette with the question the moment she picked up the phone.

"Yes?" she wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer. Alya didn't hear about the date the moment she was asked out so she was going to be in trouble. She winced, knowing that Alya heard this information from Nino, who heard it from Adrien. Alya was third in line to hear the scoop in her best friend's love life, which was something the girl would not stand for.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alya was screaming excitedly into her speaker, causing Marinette to inch away from the desk.

"Because I knew you would react like this?" It wasn't a total lie. She was still in a daze. Surely she was dreaming. There was no way that after years of crushing on him he suddenly returned her feelings. Something between them shifted this afternoon. She could feel it when she knocked on his door, seeing him answer with a panicked expression, nervous like she always got around him and when she turned to go he asked her to stay. That had to have been when the shift happened, when she chose to stay. She was comfortable enough with him to fall asleep on his shoulder, and from the looks of his disheveled hair and the title screen of the movie looping when she woke up, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep on her as well.

"You should have told me! I had to find out from Nino. Adrien is freaking out. He has no idea what he should do for you. It's kind of adorable really." Marinette opened her mouth to interject, saying that he didn't need to go to a lot of effort just for her, but she was interrupted by her friend. "I already told him he doesn't need to make any over the top grand gestures, like rent out the Louvre for an evening."

"He didn't!" Marinette picked up her phone from it's spot from the desk and took it off speaker, placing it against her ear. "Tell me he did not suggest renting out the Louvre!"

"Oh," she could practically see Alya's exasperated expression, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose with her middle finger, "he did. And the apartment in the Eiffel Tower. I had Nino talk him down from both of those ideas. I then told Nino to tell him that he shouldn't spend more than a hundred euros on this date. It's a first date. He doesn't want to overwhelm you."

"Thank you, Alya. I appreciate it." Internally she shuddered. If these were the measures that he went to for a first date she hated to imagine what he would try to do for future ones.

"So, give me details! How did he ask you? Was there a bouquet of roses involved? A box of chocolate? I know Adrien is a real romantic."

Marinette blushed, not offended in the least that neither of those things happened. "Actually, we were watching a movie and fell asleep. We woke up and Gabriel brought Romeo home. We put him to bed and were relaxing on the couch. We were just chatting and he asked me out. I didn't really hear him at first because it honestly came out of nowhere."

"Well, that's pretty sweet. It's better than the first time Nino asked me out. He threw a paper plane with 'will you go out with me' on it and threw it, but it missed and hit a very confused Kim."

Marinette laughed, remembering that happening in class. "That was pretty funny. Everyone was talking about it for weeks after it happened! Was his proposal more though out at least?" Marinette leaned back in her chair, surprised she hadn't actually heard the story yet.

"Yeah, it was, actually. He said he had a new playlist that he was thinking of trying out for an upcoming party and he wanted my opinion. I knew something was up because he never asks my opinion on music, but then it was a mix of some of my favorite songs. At the end of the mix he got on one knee and proposed, then we went out to lunch with you, Adrien and Romeo. It was sweet."

Marinette smiled. "Yeah, it sounds just like him to do something like that." Marinette glanced at the clock, sighing. "It's getting late Alya."

"Yeah, well text me, alright?"

Marinette nodded, though she knew her friend wouldn't be able to see it. "Alright! Talk to you tomorrow."

Marinette put down her phone and made her way to her bed, smiling at Tikki who was happily reading a book that was at least three times the size of her. "Are you excited for your date, Marinette?"

"Yeah, but it's not like we have a date picked for it yet. I don't know when we're going to go out. I'm not going to worry myself, though." She rolled her shoulders back, stretching out her muscles. "Why don't we go out for a while? It's such a beautiful night. It would be a shame to not take advantage of it."

Tikki giggled, placing a small bookmark into the pages. "I agree!"

"Tikki, Spots On!" Marinette called, transforming herself into Ladybug and leaping out of her bedroom window, leaving the household for the next few hours, enjoying the night that was blossoming around her.

Adrien wasn't spying on her, per-say. He just happened to be upstairs pacing the hallway for no particular reason when he heard her call out to her kwami. He saw a bright flash of light from beneath the crack in the door and swooned internally. He wanted nothing more than to go out and join his lady for the night but he couldn't leave Romeo at home alone.

Adrien made his way downstairs, smiling to himself, knowing Ladybug was going to watch the city for both of them. He had to make sure he gave her a perfect first date. A hundred euros really wasn't that much. He wanted to do something special for her. Then it hit him. Quickly he rushed to his laptop and pulled up some information. He knew what he was going to do for her. He just needed to wait a few days for it to all come into place.

There was an akuma attack the next day. A man was turning people invisible because he wasn't noticed by the girl who he loved. If she didn't notice him then he'd make it impossible for her to notice anyone else.

Fortunately they managed to wrap up the attack quickly, neither Ladybug or Chat Noir having to use Lucky Charm or Cataclysm. They decided to relax on top of the Notre Dame, sitting on top of one of the large bell towers, their legs dangling off the edge of the church, watching the Parisians and tourists alike, seeing them occasionally get pointed out by an excited fan. They didn't them much mind though.

"So why did you run away?" Ladybug asked looking straight ahead, avoiding her partner's gaze. "Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head placing one of his hands over her's. "Never. I- I had something personal going on, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She still wasn't looking at him. There was this tension between them now as Ladybug and Chat Noir, one that didn't exist between Marinette and Adrien. He didn't like this tension and needed to resolve it. He didn't know how to though, without blurting out that he found out her secret identity.

"Not really," he muttered as a reply. "You just remind me of a friend."

"Friend, huh?" she was finally turning to face him. "Listen, there's something that's been bothering me. You said your son doesn't really have a mother. What happened to her? This wasn't some one night stand gone wrong, was it?"

"Not really." Chat leaned back, using his hands to steady himself, and looked up at the sky. "It was right after you left. I was patrolling like I did every night and there was this woman. She was just standing at a bridge, so I went up to her. Looking back it's likely she was waiting for me. I went up to her and asked her if she needed any help. She passed me this basket and I looked inside, saw there was a baby in there. I looked up to ask her why she was giving him to me, but she already had the gun against her head. I didn't have time to react before she pulled the trigger." He let out a deep breath, tapping one of his index finger's against the stone. "I wasn't able to save her, but she gave me her son. I had to hold onto him, you know? He's a great kid, one of the best parts of my life."

"One of?" Ladybug was looking at him, her eyes filled with sadness.

He gave her a weak smile. "You're the other best part, Bugaboo." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and stood up, grabbing his baton. "Well, this cat has got to go. It's been fun, _mew_ know. We should do this more often." He launched himself off the church and into an alley. She didn't follow him, but instead continued to sit on the roof, letting the breeze surround her. Her hand subconsciously lifted to her cheek, touching where Chat had kissed her. The feeling had sent shivers down her spine. Her body reacted to him like he was electricity and she was a battery. She wanted the spark to stop, though. She had Adrien back home. Adrien and Romeo.

Next time she saw Chat she would tell him that she couldn't be with him. She had told him once before that her heart belonged to someone else, but maybe he thought her feelings for him had died years ago. It would usually be a fair assumption. Most high school crushes were fleeting and went away with the wind. She was one of the few that held onto her crush years later, but it seemed like Chat would know all about that. He was one of the others that held onto his. How did she turn him down without breaking his heart, continuing to show him support? It seemed like he had enough hardship while she was away.

A beep of her earrings told her it was time to return home, so she did, flying off into the direction of her home she shared with the Agreste boys. She transformed in an alley a block away and walked home, trying to not let herself become distracted by Chat's story. She wondered how Romeo came into Adrien's life? How did the two most important men in her life both end up with little boys that meant the world to them? The world was a strange place. She entered the house, seeing Adrien sitting on the couch, one arm slung over the back, Romeo sitting on his left. Adrien was reading a picture book and Romeo was absorbing every word. However Romeo came into Adrien's life, it was obvious that he was really lucky. The boys looked up from their spot when they heard her enter, Romeo running over to Marinette and hugging her leg. "You're back! Will you read with us?" He wasted no time in asking.

"Come on, Romeo. I'm sure Marinette's tired. Let's let her go upstairs."

She shook her head and made her way to the couch. "No, this is fine. I'll join you. What are we reading?"

"Fairytales! You can read all the girl parts and Papa can read the rest!"

Marinette laughed, nodding. "Sounds like a plan." Romeo sat down, nestling himself between the two adults. Adrien put his arm back around the couch, but took one of Marinette's hands in his, intertwining his fingers in hers. Her heart sped up and a smile crossed her face. She could get used to this.

* * *

 _Can y'all believe we're over halfway through at this point? Less than a week until Valentine's Day! I'll be sad to finish up this story. I'm really enjoying writing Romeo, as well as Marinette and Adrien. I know this chapter is a bit filler-y, but hey, LB got some background at least! I wanted to take it a bit slow today since the last two chapters had a lot happen between the one sided reveal and the date. Seriously guys, thank you all so much for your support! It's incredible! You are all so amazing! I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Marinette was in the kitchen making some pasta for the three of them to have for dinner, a thick cream sauce for her and Adrien bursting with flavor, garlic, parmesan, fresh cream, the aroma already making her mouth water. She wished Romeo would eat the sauce, but he insisted on eating "noodles with butter only" so she had to give into his request. Currently Romeo was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching a children's movie Marinette remembered watching growing up, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she remembered growing up like that.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Adrien snuck his way over next to her and stuck his finger in the pot where the cream sauce was just beginning to boil, not that Adrien noticed because the next thing he did was yelp and shake his finger up and down, flinging sauce everywhere.

Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the dish towels and began to clean up the mess Adrien had created. "Not you, obviously," she chuckled before passing him the whisk that was in her hand. "Mix the pot. Don't go too fast or you'll get it everywhere, but make sure it's constantly moving or the cheese will stick to the bottom of the pot and burn."

Adrien sighed and took the whisk, doing as he was directed. Honestly, he loved it when she took control. Her strong Ladybug personality shone through, parting away the shyness. "Yes, mom."

He didn't see her twirl the dish towel up and was honestly surprised when he felt it snap against his butt, stinging for a moment. "That's Miss Mom, to you."

"Ugh, fine!" He made his best attempt at looking and sounding like a teenager, giving an exaggerated eye roll and, checking to make sure Romeo wasn't watching, flipping her off with a good natured smile. They both started to laugh.

"So," Marinette's laughter turned serious and she moved Adrien out of the way of the stove, taking he whisk from him again and finished up the mixture. "When did you start liking me? I mean, I assume you like me if you asked me out."

He wasn't sure how he should answer. He's always been in love with her. The moment she went up and faced off against Hawkmoth he knew she was something special, the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life trying to protect and prove that he was worthy of. The moment he fell in love with Marinette wasn't clear, though. It's possible he fell for her when they were still teenagers. Looking back he saw moments where he was happy to have her by his side. He liked dancing with her while he tried to avoid dancing with Chloe. He didn't mind the thought of having to kiss her while he recoiled at the thought of kissing Chloe. The problem was both of those instances could be chocked up to he would have rather been with sweet Marinette than spoiled Chloe.

A moment when he was Chat entered his head, coming to the balcony where he saw her looking into the night. He was needing comfort and she gave it to him. At that moment there was no one he would have rather have been with. The guilt he saw in her eyes that night made sense now. Perhaps that was the moment he fell for her? "I don't know," he decided to answer honestly. "There are moments I can think of where I know I liked you, but there are others where you crept up on me. It's possible I've liked you for years but not completely realized it myself."

Years? Marinette could feel her grip on the kitchen appliances loosen. She focused, careful not to drop any of the items. She was determined not to break anytime. "What about you? I mean, you said yes, so you must like me too, right?" Marinette watched as Adrien's shoulders fell, his relaxed posture dropping slightly, like a flower beginning to wilt. "Nino said you went out with a few guys in America. I guess you weren't really thinking of me then, huh?"

She knew the exact moment she fell for him. It was imprinted on her mind, burned in fire, locked inside her heart. She had misjudged him. Knowing him now it was obvious he would never place gum on a chair. He wasn't that kind of person. He apologized for the misunderstanding though and saw her out in the rain. He gave her his umbrella, their hands touching, flowers blooming in her chest, the world around her turning from dull grays to bright colors, despite the rain casting everything in a monotone hue. The umbrella closed on top of her and she expected him to turn away, thinking that she was weird, unlucky, but he laughed. He laughed and it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. "I've been in love with you for years," she said.

"In love?" Adrien looked at her, his eyes wide.

She didn't realize she said it at the moment, but declaring her love before the first date was probably too much for anyone to take. "So-sorry," she said, looking down at the meal, starting to feel the tips of her ears warm up. "I- I didn't mean-"

She felt his hand on top of hers. "You're in love with me?"

He looked at her earnestly with those bright green eyes. She was captivated. She had to tell him the truth. "Yes. I have been since you gave me your umbrella."

She didn't expect him to remember that in complete honesty, but his face lit up, a crooked smile lighting up his features. "That long huh?" He let out a sigh, and she could hear him mutter something under his breath. She strained her ears to listen. "Looks like I feel in love with you first." Adrien fell for her first? What did he mean by that? Didn't he say there wasn't an exact moment? What did he mean? Before she could ask was looking at her again. "So if you loved me why did you date those guys in America?"

"Honestly? I didn't think you had ever noticed me. Really noticed me, at least. Your mind always seemed to be somewhere else. I assumed there was someone else in your life, so I was trying to move on. Both of the guys were really nice..." she trailed off, looking into the glassiness of his eyes, focused on her. They were inching closer and closer to one another and she could feel his breath brushing against her.

"Go on," he said, taking her hands in his. "Say it."

"They weren't you." She couldn't stay with them because they weren't Adrien. He was the old who had stolen her heart so long ago. He was the one she was comparing everyone else to. Even her poor kitty wasn't safe from Adrien. She was always thinking about him, consciously or otherwise. He drew her in like a magnet, feeling it in her heart that the two of them belonged together. Electricity doesn't lie. Sparks don't fly for everyone, but every time she saw him lightning bugs seemed to dance around him. He lit up her world.

He put his hand behind her head, running his fingers through her soft hair, relishing the feeling. He brought her closer to him and she stood on her toes, snaking her arms around the back of his neck. Each moment lasted an eternity and life seemed to be playing out in slow motion as they grew closer and closer to one another, their lips about to meet-

"Is dinner ready?" Romeo was sitting on his knees, looking away from the movies and over the back of the couch, leaning his little body on the back cushions.

Adrien and Marinette separated from one another, drawing away like they had both been shocked, pulling their gazes away from the other, Adrien becoming very interested in Romeo all of the sudden and Marinette grabbing the plates and placing them on the table. "Yeah, bud. Go wash your hands with soap and come sit down at the table."

"Okay!" Romeo bounded over to the kitchen, a skip in his step, pulling out the little stool that was hidden for him under the sink, stepping on it so he could reach, pumping a squirt of the coconut scented gel into his hands and rubbing them together, managing to get _most_ of the suds off before wiping his hands on a dish towel and running to his seat. "Can I say the prayer?" He asked, looking at his dad questioningly.

"Sure!" The three then clasped their hands and bowed their heads, waiting to hear what Romeo had to pray for.

"Thank you for this food and thank you for the TV because I really like it and please let Marinette become my Mommy, amen!" Romeo looked up from the prayer, grabbed his fork and clumsily started shoving large bites of food in his mouth. Neither Adrien or Marinette corrected this behavior because neither of them saw, both madly blushing and looking down at their own plates, staring at the food intensely.

"S-so, what did you do at Grandpa's the other day?" Adrien asked, finally able to process some sort of train of thought.

"We played games! We played hide and seek and Grandpa had to seek me so I hided behind the curtain in the entry room. He was looking for me all day! Grandpa is really bad at hiding though. He hid behind a lamp and I found him really quick. You really need to teach him how to be better like Chat Noir, Papa. Chat Noir would not get founded if he didn't want to be."

Adrien gave Marinette a sideways glance. Romeo had no idea what his words meant. "No, I suppose he wouldn't."

"Marinette do you and Papa play hide and seek when you're Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

She leaned over, placing her forearms on the table, looking at the little boy with a mischievous glint in her eye. The awkward look from before had disappeared, replaced by confidence. "Well, of course we do. Crime fighting is one big game of hide and seek. The villains are hiding and we're trying to find them. Hawkmoth is really good at this game though. We still haven't found him."

"I'm sure you will soon! If you do then you get to become my Mommy, promise?"

She didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't want to disappoint Romeo, but she didn't want to make Adrien uncomfortable either. The only thing she could do to save the situation was change the subject. To what, though? "After dinner is finished do you want to make cookies, Romeo?" Tikki was almost out of cookies. When they lived at home she could just go to the bakery and grab a couple for her kwami, but ever since she left she's been having to bake them more and more. That never stopped her from stealing some of them though.

"Yeah! Cookies! Papa, you want to help?"

Adrien nodded, facing Romeo, but his eyes looking at Marinette. "Yeah, cookies sound great."

Ladybug had told him once that her kwami ate cookies in the same way Plagg ate Camembert. He was jealous. Cookies seemed preferable to the smelly cheese, but maybe this future would be a cookie filled future after all. A chocolate ship cookie and smelly cheese filled future. That didn't sound so bad. Marinette had melted into his life seamlessly. Honestly, he didn't know how he got around without her before. Romeo asking her to be his mother was a bit awkward, but beneath that awkwardness was joy. This was the girl he had been in love with since he was a teenager. He loved both sides of her.

How on earth was he going to tell her he was Chat Noir?

* * *

 _So close to a kiss and yet so far! I had fun writing this. Romeo is fun to write for. Also, I know Adrien isn't a fan of Camembert, but the grocery store close to my house was selling it and I happen to eat a lot of cheese and crackers as meals. Camembert is delicious. If you haven't tried it you should. It's like Brie, but less strong. It's hard to describe... Hopefully fanfiction has got the reviews working by now! I've seen all the ones I received an email notification for, but some of the longer reviews I wasn't able to read completely. I don't know why we can't read any of them... oh well! I'll see y'all tomorrow! Let me know what y'all's thoughts!_


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

She was sitting in the living room watching Romeo while Adrien was at work. He was playing with an assortment of toys spread out all over the floor, the television playing one of Adrien's Studio Ghibli movies when she heard the report. There was an akuma attacking Paris and Ladybug needed to be there immediately. She couldn't leave Romeo by himself though. She tried calling Adrien, waiting to use the excuse that there was some sort of family emergency and she needed to leave immediately and couldn't watch Romeo, but he didn't answer. She tried calling Alya, but that didn't work either. After all these years the LadyBlog was still running and the go to source of all thing Ladybug and Chat Noir. She was on the verge of freaking out when she finally got ahold of someone, that someone being Nino. "Hey, Mari? What's up?"

"Can you please do me a huge favor?"

"Uh, what is it?"

"I had a family emergency come up and would really appreciate it if you could watch Romeo for me!"

"Family emergency? Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah, I believe so. I don't have all the details but I just really need to be at home. I'll drop Romeo off at your place, alright?" She was already grabbing a backpack and filling it with toys and movies so the little boy was entertained while he was at Alya and Nino's.

"Sounds good. Be careful, though. There's an akuma attacking and I don't want either of you to get caught up in it."

"We'll be careful!" Nino really didn't need to know that the real reason she was leaving him on babysitting duty was because of the akuma.

"We're going to go see Nino, alright?"

Romeo looked up from his game, confused. "Why?"

"Because I have an emergency I need to take care of. I'm sorry."

"Is there a bad guy attacking Paris again?" Romeo tilted his head to the side, his large eyes looking up at her, trying to get a read. "Do you have to go save the day with Papa?"

"Yeah, there is. I need to make sure Paris is safe from Hawkmoth." What was nice about little kids was even if they told someone that she was Ladybug people would just believe it was just the little boy's imagination. There wasn't any harm in that. It's not like she believed Adrien was Chat Noir.

"Okay!" Romeo picked up one of his toys and held it under his arm, holding out one hand to Marinette, who had slung the backpack for Romeo over her shoulder. "Let's go, Mommy!"

Hearing him call her Mommy made her heart race slightly in her chest, and normally she would have corrected him, but at the moment she just really needed to get to Nino's so she could help her kitty. She could see lights flashing in the distance and make out the faint shape of Chat flying through the air, using his baton to catch himself and throw his weight around. She rushed to Nino's, which was thankfully only about a block away, practically threw Romeo at her friend before running away, disappearing into an alley nearby.

"You really need to do something to thank Nino, you know. This isn't the first time he's covered for you," Tikki said, giving Marinette a smile.

"I know, Tikki. He's a great friend. I don't know what I would do without him."

"Being Ladybug is a full time job. I'm glad you've got friends you can rely on." The kwami flew around so she was floating next to Marinette's earrings, ready to help her transform.

"Friends like you?" Tikki giggled at Marinette's response. "Tikki, spot's on!" Bright light surrounded Marinette and she was jumping onto a nearby roof before swinging over to where Chat was fighting against a man with a snake wrapping around his neck, throwing illuminated items that turned into reptiles as soon as they hit the ground, both toxic and harmless.

"Sorry I'm late, kitty! Had something I needed to take care of."

To her surprise Chat just smiled at her, not concerned by the tardiness. "Don't worry about it. You got here as soon as you could, that's what matters."

"So, what are we dealing with?" Ladybug looked over the scene and saw the akumatized man surrounding himself with the creatures, slithering around at his command, chasing passerby's, tourists, and fans, some of the dangerous ones getting frighteningly close to the civilians.

"He calls himself Snake Charmer. He summons snakes and other reptiles and has been terrorizing everyone with them. It's been a workout trying to avoid them on the ground. I've been moving from roof to roof to avoid them since the lizards can _scale_ the walls."

She looked around, trying to figure out how to get the item away from the victim, safely. He was well guarded. "I'm going in!" Ladybug flipped off of the building and onto the ground, Chat Noir calling for her to come back. She couldn't, not yet at least. She needed to see Snake Charmer up close, figure out where his item was. "Ah, Ladybug." The man threw a ball of light at her and before she could dodge she found herself wrapped up by a snake, immobilizing her. Snake Charmer took a step towards her, closer and closer, his hand brushing her earlobe, when Chat stepped in, Cataclysming the snake constricting her, causing it to disappear in smoke.

"Get away from her!" he hissed. He looked feral, not like the tame kitty she was used to. His face was contorted in rage and he grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the danger. "Why did you do that?" he demanded once they were out of the way.

"I needed a closer look! I needed to see where the akuma was!"

Chat crossed his arms and placed his weight on one leg, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, did you find it?"

She thought back, thinking about the man's outfit. Hanging out of his pocket was a keychain with a snake depicted on it. That had to be where the akuma was hiding. "I think so." She smiled and threw her yo-yo in the air. "Lucky Charm!" it came down as a hair dryer. She looked around, seeing an outlet against a building, a billboard, a dumpster, and a large piece of gratified plywood next to the dumpster. "Chat Noir, grab that plywood and push the dumpster over to that outlet, making walls with them. We're going to have ourselves a rattlesnake round-up!"

Chat did as he was told, grabbing the plywood and pushing the dumpster, thankfully nearly empty, over. Ladybug grabbed the billboard and passed it to Chat Noir who seemed to understand what was happening. Ladybug plugged in the dryer and perched on top of the dumpster. The day was fairly chilly, so turning the heat of the highest setting and blowing it the snake's way caused them to come over, seeking the heat source. Once they were all corralled Chat closed them in with the billboard. Snake Charmer tried to release them, but Ladybug reached into his pocked at pulled out the keychain, breaking it and releasing the akuma, purifying the city, the snakes and other reptiles disappearing, going back to wherever they were summoned from. Ladybug held out her fist for a fist bump but Chat was looking at the ground. "Please, don't put yourself in danger like that. I really though that snake was going to kill you! I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd be fine. You'd hardly know I was gone."

"You underestimate your importance to me, M'Lady."

"You obviously do too!" Ladybug crossed her arms and looked at the man standing in front of her. "I did that to defeat the akuma, but I don't want you sticking your neck out for me every time there's an attack. I want to save you too, you know. You're my best friend. I've seen you be other people's puppets and minions. I've seen you die. I don't want to go through that again. I can't risk losing you, and neither can your family."

"You are my family, Ladybug!" He looked like he wanted to say more, but he swung off, his miraculous beeping, signaling to him that he was dangerously close to detransforming in front of her. Her own miraculous started beeping as well and she ran off.

She landed in an alley and saw a flash of green light from the alley opposite of hers. She didn't mean to land somewhere where she could see him lose himself. She had all intention of turning away, refusing to look at the man in the alley across from hers, who was emerging from the shadows like a cat in the night, but she was still shocked that out of all the alley's in Paris they had to get neighbors. It didn't seem like he had seen her, at least. Ladybug had every intent of turning away, but a flash of familiar blonde hair was seen out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw _him_ glancing around, looking to make sure no one had seen him, before leaving the alley. Adrien had emerged from the alley.

Ladybug felt her own transformation fade away and she ran to the alley, looking to see if there was anybody else there. No one. There was not a single soul in the alley. That could only mean one thing: Adrien was Chat Noir.

She couldn't believe it. Her kind friend was the same person as her brave partner? The two were completely different! The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Saturdays were the only days Chat could come out when there wasn't an akuma attack. Those were the days Romeo was with Gabriel. Adrien had been the only other student to show up late as often as she did while they were in school together. Chat had adopted a son right after she left for America. Adrien had as well. It made sense. Romeo was always declaring that his father was Chat Noir. This whole time he was telling the truth. Romeo's father was Chat Noir.

Did Adrien know that she was Ladybug? If he didn't then why did he ask her out as Marinette when he was in love with Ladybug? Of course, then the pieces started to fit together. Chat ran off after receiving the cookies. He was the friend that helped her bake them. He recognized them. That had to have been the moment he realized who she was. When he said "Looks like I fell in love with you first," he was referring to Ladybug, not Marinette. Marinette was the one who crept up on him, though.

There was no one else who would have possibly been able to be her Chat Noir. Warmth filled her chest. She knew who her partner was. Despite the happiness, she also wanted to smack herself. They could have saved themselves so much time by just revealing themselves earlier. Tikki must have known that Adrien was Chat Noir. Her poor friend probably wanted to help Marinette more than anything. This was probably an incredibly hard secret to keep. She made a note to make Tikki extra special cookies next time she baked some.

Marinette walked over to Nino's knowing she needed to pick up Romeo. Nino had basically no warning but was completely okay with watching him. She made a note to bake some cookies for Nino as well as a thank you.

The revelations filled her mind and filled her heart. She was in love with Adrien, and she had been so afraid of breaking Chat Noir's heart. She didn't have to, now. She just had no idea how she was going to tell him that she knew that he was Chat Noir. She also didn't know why he didn't tell her who he was. Was he afraid? He shouldn't be. After all, Marinette was the one behind the mask.

* * *

 _Yay! Everyone knows! Huge relief off of everyone's chest, I'm sure. I'm still reading the reivews y'all send in even if they don't show up on the page. I'm hoping that bug is fixed soon... Y'all are so amazing! We got past 100 reviews! I didn't think that would happen and I cannot thank y'all enough. Let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	12. Chapter Eleven

_So I don't think and email ever sent out about yesterday's update so if you're keeping up day by day make sure you read yesterday's chapter before this one! You'll be pretty confused otherwise!_

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Marinette took a deep breath as she entered the home once again. She had Romeo with her, picking him up from Nino's. He was holding onto her hand with one hand, holding onto a cookie from her parent's bakery with the other. "I wanna watch a movie!" Romeo cried, stepping into the house, removing himself from her grasp and running to the shelf where an assortment of DVDs and BluRays sat for Romeo.

"Alright. Go pick one out and I'll get it set up for you." Marinette went to the DVD player and waited for Romeo to pick out a movie, returning with My Neighbor Totoro. Even if Romeo and Adrien were biologically related, the boy had inherited his father's taste in movies. Marinette thought it was cute. She was worried, though. How was Adrien going to react when he told her that she knew who he was? He had to know that she was Ladybug. She had seen him freak out when she gave him the cookies. That freak out made sense now that she knew the reason.

Should she tell him as Ladybug? Should she drop hints? Should she go around acting like nothing at had changed? She didn't think that was possible. "Marinette, are you okay?" Romeo was looking up at her, his big blue eyes worried. She would have felt bad for concerning the little boy, but the way his brown hair was sticking straight out and chocolate covered his face from the chocolate chips there was no chance.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Why don't we turn on that movie."

"Alright!" Romeo bounded over and plopped down on the couch. Marinette put in the movie and took a seat next to Romeo, eyeing the front door, waiting for Adrien to return home.

It was halfway through the movie when the door started to crack open. A familiar blonde stepped in, his face breaking out into a goofy smile at seeing the two people he treasured most in the world watching one of the movies he treasured most in the world. "Having fun?"

Romeo didn't even acknowledge his father's presence, his eyes were glued to the screen, watching the bright colors pass by. "Looks like it." Marinette felt something uneasy rise in her chest. She knew she had to get this out of the way. Ladybug and Chat Noir had to be on the same page. If they weren't then it could effect Paris. It could effect her and Adrien. "Do you mind if we talk? Privately?"

"What does privately mean?" Romeo tore his eyes away from the screen to inquire about the new word, as he always did when a new word was added to his vocabulary.

"Privately means by ourselves, bud." Adrien walked over to the little boy and ruffed his hair, making the strands even messier than they already were, before extending a hand to Marinette, offering her help off of the couch. He then led her to the kitchen, grabbed a pair of wine glasses and a bottle of wine from the top of the fridge, pouring each of them a small amount of the liquid. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

That gaze alone was setting Marinette on fire. Green was normally calming to her, but seeing Chat Noir's green eye's as Adrien's green eyes was throwing her off. He was looking into her eyes, giving her a kind, supportive look. He would be there for her. He had her back. She didn't know how she was supposed to react to that. She took the wine and downed it in a single drink. "Is everything alright, Mari?" Adrien placed his wine glass down and took a step closer to her, causing her to back up and knock her own glass over, sending it to the floor with a resounding crash, sending glass all over the place.

"I- I am so sorry!" She bent down, prepared to pick up the pieces of glass with her hands, Adrien grabbing her wrist and pulling her up.

"It's just a glass. Don't be sorry. I've got a ton of others. Don't pick up glass shards with your hands though. You don't want to cut them up. You've only got two of those."

She nodded, trying to clam herself as she went to grab the broom and dust pan, Adrien beating her to it and passing her the pan. "I'll sweep?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

The two of them worked together, sweeping up the broken glass and disposing of it in the trash, taking care to get every piece so none of the household members would step on the sharp object and cut themselves. Adrien then lead Marinette to the kitchen table, sitting her down and giving her a glass of water. "What did you want to talk about?"

This was it. She could do this. Marinette took a deep breath and looked into his beautiful green eyes. "I- I saw you earlier, in the alley. I know you're Chat Noir."

"Oh." Adrien then took his wine glass and downed the remainder of his drink. "You know, huh?"

"You know I'm Ladybug, huh? Is that why you freaked out when you got the cookies?" Adrien nodded, looking down at his hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I- I didn't know what to say. Hi Marinette want to go out to dinner? By the way, I'm Chat Noir, your partner in crime fighting. I know you're Ladybug, surprise!" He gave a dry chuckle before looking into her eyes. "I was afraid. Things were going well. I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. You made me happier than I've ever been in my entire life. I didn't want to ruin that by saying something stupid." Adrien hung his head, looking akin to a guilty dog, sad eyes and all. "I'm really sorry, Marinette."

"I'm not mad," she replied. She wasn't. They just needed to get things out in the open. They would never be able to rely on one another if the other was keeping a huge secret. She wished they had revealed their identities to one another sooner. She would have accepted her partner's advancements and they could possibly be happier than they were now. Marinette glanced into the living room and saw Romeo sitting on the couch. No, she didn't think it was possible for her to be happier. Her life was perfect. Tikki said she was the embodiment of good luck. That good luck was more than she deserved. "Why don't we go on that date? We can drop Romeo off at your dad's, or if he's not available I'm sure my parents would be happy to watch him for a few hours."

"You mean it?" Adrien looked up, a vibrant smile on his face, looking like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Of course I do! You were the one who asked, if I remember correctly!"

"Well, I don't know... I'm just excited. Let me call my father and ask if he can watch Romeo." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the contact, quickly tapping the number and calling him. "Hi Father, I was wondering if you could watch Romeo right now. I know it's last minute but Marinette and I were hoping to go on a date." Silence for a moment. "Yes, she is very pretty." Marinette felt a blush rise to her cheeks, and she watched Adrien, seeing him suddenly turn bright red as well, but for a seemingly different reason. "I- I- Father! It's too early for that!" He let out a sigh, exasperated. "I'll tell her, and we'll bring Romeo over. See you soon." Adrien hung up the phone and looked at Marinette sheepishly. "So, my father wanted me to let you know that he-" Adrien inhaled, steadying himself.

"What is it?" An impish side of Marinette started to emerge as she prodded Adrien for more details.

"Father wanted me to tell you that you would be a- a great daughter in law."

Marinette was quiet, but only for a moment, before she burst out laughing. "Well," she finally said, wiping a stray tear from her eye after laughing, "I'm glad he approves of me dating his son." She got up on her toes and brought her mouth close to his ear, whispering, "My parents have been saying the same thing for years." She got off her toes and left the kitchen. "You go take Romeo to your father's! I'm going to find get ready."

Pale and stuttering Adrien was one of her favorite Adrien's.

Adrien started loading a backpack with some of Romeo's supplies, turning off the movie and placing the film in the bag. "Come on, you can finish this at Grandpa's."

"But it's not Saturday. Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Marinette out for a date." Adrien held his hand out for Romeo who took it walking out the door, ready to walk to his father's house.

"What's a date?"

"Well, when two people like each other a lot they'll go on a date and see how much they like one another."

"Oh." Romeo pondered these words, swinging his arm back and forth wildly while he thought of these words. "Well, I like Marinette a lot. Can I take her out on a date?"

"No, it's a grown-up thing. You'd probably find dates boring right now. Grown-ups get to do kissy stuff on dates that you wouldn't like."

"Ew! You and Marinette are going to do kissy stuff? Gross." Romeo tried to release himself from his father's grasp, but Adrien's grip, while gentle, was incredibly firm. There was no escaping.

The two eventually found their way to the mansion, where the gate opened for them immediately. Gabriel stood there, straight backed and serious, but his face cracking into a smile when he saw the two boys. "Romeo, go ahead and head on inside. I'll be there in just a moment."

"Okay, Grandpa." Romeo ran on inside, leaving the two men alone.

"So, what is it?"

"Where are you taking Marinette on this date?"

"Um," Adrien hadn't thought about it.

"I managed to get you some last minute reservations at Le Jules Verne. I called in a favor but you and Marinette can have a nice dinner tonight."

Adrien was shocked. He was happy his father supported him pursuing a relationship wit Marinette, but was surprised by the willingness to call in favors. "Th-thank you, Father. This is amazing."

"Well, you best be off. Don't keep a lovely young woman waiting. Remember what I've taught you." Gabriel gave his son a quick hug and retreated back into the house leaving Adrien stunned for a moment, before turning to go back to the house.

When he got there he quickly changed into a pair a slacks, a long sleeved button up, sweater, and blazer, before sitting on the couch, anxiously checking his phone, praying to find a distraction. Praying that _anything_ would distract him, when he heard her cough and begin to descend down the stairs. Her hair was curled, brushing her shoulders. She wore a red dress with lacy long sleeves and on her feet were a pair of strappy black heels that he was surprised she hadn't fallen down yet. She slowly made her way over to him, tripping -he had spoken too soon- falling directly into his arms. "Sorry." She hardly looked sorry. She had been caught in his strong arms and she wore a smug smile on her face.

"You look beautiful." He helped her back to her feet and held an elbow out for her to take. "I'm the luckiest man in Paris to have you at my side, M'Lady."

"Well, I'm the luckiest woman. Do you know how many women would kill to be on the arm of Adrien Agreste?"

He mocked being offended. "Are you just using me for my name?"

She lifted herself onto her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek, the cheeky look continuing to shine bright on her face. "Well of course I am, kitty. Who wouldn't want to date Chat Noir?" He thought his heart might explode.

* * *

 _Good news! It looks like whatever was wrong with the reviews is fixed. Y'all are all so amazing. I read every review and they all give me so much joy. I am still actively trying to answer questions given to me in the reviews, so don't be afraid to ask. I'm so excited for tomorrow's chapter, guys. We've got a date! Well, I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The two of them made their way into the restaurant where a host escorted them to a table where they sat down, Adrien pulling out the chair for Marinette before going to sit in his own. He ordered them a bottle of wine to drink over the dinner, the two looking over the view of Paris from the window. "This was really nice of your father to do this for us."

"Well, he likes you. I think he's wanted me to go out with you since you made that hat for his competition. I don't think he's as fond of your alter ego but he doesn't need to know that's you." The bottle of wine was placed at their table, each of them poured a glass, Adrien taking the glass in his hand and holding it out to Marinette, proposing a toast. "To a wonderful date with the most wonderful girl I know."

"You're sweet." They each took a drink of their wine, waiting to be served.

"Be sure to pace yourself. It's a six course meal."

"S-six?" That was hard to believe. She thought a three course meal was large enough, but six, that was spectacular. "You know you're never going to be able to top this first date, right? I mean, who takes someone out to a place like this for a first date?"

"Well," he smiled, "I guess I'll have to spend the rest of my life trying to top this one." The nonchalant sip of wine and the way he behaved, Adrien clearly grew up going to places like this. She wondered vaguely if Romeo had gone to places like this before as well.

Dinner was filled with pleasant conversation about one another, Romeo, Alya and Nino's wedding, what Marinette was planning to do, until the sixth course finally came. Marinette tried to hide her disappointment. She never wanted this night to end. Seeing the lights of Paris shining below her was amazing when she was Ladybug, but it was almost a dream as Marinette. Adrien offered her an arm when they were leaving, and she took it, looping her arm in his, resting her head on his shoulder. Other restaurant goers, locals and tourists alike, looked at them, whispering to one another about how beautiful the couple was, a few recognizing Adrien from the Agreste photoshoots he did. Upon leaving the tower they walked down the Seine, hand in hand, lightly swinging their arms back and forth, a light breeze picking up and causing Marinette to let out an involuntary shiver. "Are you cold, Princess?" Adrien asked.

She shook her head. "Not at all." That was a lie but she was afraid he'd insist they go home if she was starting to get chilly. "I'm fine." He shrugged off the suit jacket and placed it over her shoulders, the fabric swallowing her, the tips of her fingers not even close to reaching outside the sleeve. She found the largess comforting. The coat smelled like Adrien, a scent she hoped to surround herself with in the future. " _Merci._ " She then got onto her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. He turned to face her, placing one of his hands on the back of her head, the other on her waist, bringing her close to him. He bent down so his lips could reach her, placing a kiss on her lips. If the world stopped spinning or froze over the two of them wouldn't have noticed. Fireworks were igniting around them, electricity sparking between the two of them. The brightest stars seemed dim compared to them, dazzling.

"Wow," Adrien said when the two of them finally pulled apart. "I wish we had done that years ago."

"I mean," Marinette let out a small giggle remembering the first Valentine's Day the two of them shared together, when they were still Adrien and Marinette, or Ladybug and Chat Noir, no overlap to be found, feelings on both ends unrequited, "I kissed you. It's not my fault you don't remember."

Adrien lowered his head, pressing his forehead to Marinette's. "I seem to recall I taking an arrow for you so you wouldn't meet the same fate."

She pecked him lightly on the lips, "And I'm thankful for it every day."

"So why did you like me more than Chat Noir? You were too infatuated with me to give, well, _me_ a chance, right?" He took her hand and lead her over to a bench, the two of them ready to have a conversation they needed to have if they were going to go any further in their relationship. Why had they been chasing each other? What appealed to them so much that caused them to ignore their other half?

"Well, I guess it goes back to that moment I fell for you. I was livid with you before. I heard Chloe talking about you and just assumed you'd be just like her. I saw you messing with that gum on my seat. If you were just like Chloe then it was a fair assumption that you put it there. You apologized, though, giving me a chance when I wouldn't give you one. You gave me your umbrella to protect me from the rain. You looked sorry for something you didn't do and I realized I made a mistake judging you like that, and, when you saw how clumsy I was, the umbrella shutting itself over me, you laughed. I had never heard such a beautiful sound in my life. Your laughter brought me joy. Those feelings didn't fade. Every day you kept proving yourself. You were kind to the others, and weren't afraid to put Chloe in her place. You helped your friends out. I heard you helped Nino when he had a crush on me. Not everyone would do that, you know. You had the saddest, loneliest upbringing, but your smile was the brightest I'd ever seen. It was hard not to fall in love with you."

"So that's why you couldn't love me as Chat Noir?"

"Perhaps if Chat had been the one to extend an umbrella first I would have fallen for him. It was just a matter a timing." She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "So, what about you? Why did you fall for Ladybug instead of me?"

"When we met I had just transformed into Chat Noir for the first time. I was learning what freedom was, and here comes this girl, flying and crashing into me. You started out as someone who wasn't confident in what she was doing, but you proved you were a hero, even when everyone else taunted you. You saved Chloe's life, you stood up to Hawkmoth. Seeing this confident girl come from someone with such a clumsy start inspired me. I fell for you when you declared you would save Paris, and I vowed to myself at that moment I would be saving Paris with you, by your side."

He pressed a kiss to her head, and they watched the moonlight reflect off the water of the river. "We're a couple of idiots, aren't we?" She asked.

"Yeah, but that's what makes us perfect partners." They sat there in silence, letting the sounds of the river, the soft sounds of bugs, cars in the distance, wash over them. No words needed to be said at the moment. Everything was perfect between them. "Is it too soon for me to say something?"

"What is it?"

"I love you."

"What?"

He turned to face her so his green eyes were boring into her blue ones. "It's been one date but I've loved you for years. I just want you to know that I love you, Marinette."

"A-Adrien." Her mouth hung open with shock, but a smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Of course I do. I told you when I was Chat, when we were younger. Love ages, but doesn't change. My heart belonged to you then, and it belongs to you now. Honestly, the only reason I didn't go crazy waiting for you to return was because I had to watch after Romeo, but, at night, after he was asleep, I'd look out the window and just pray I'd see you leaping across the rooftops."

"Kitty," she took his hand in hers and placed a kiss on his knuckles, like he had done to her so many times, "I love you too. I missed you every day while I was gone. Both you as Adrien and you as Chat Noir. You're the most important person in my life. You have been for years."

"I'm happy to hear that." Adrien sighed and looked at the river, seeing the stars reflect off of the surface. "I've heard Romeo call you his mother before. I can ask him to stop, if you want. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Romeo stop calling her his mom? She didn't mind when he did. She knew that he was missing that person in his life and longed for it. He was similar to Adrien in that way. She knew he missed his mother a great deal. If she could help fill that void in Romeo's life, if only a little, then she would do it. He could call her whatever he wanted. She knew that f she was given the chance she would be able to love the little boy like he was her own. "I don't mind. He can keep calling me that, if he wants. I know he wishes he had a mother."

"Sometimes," Adrien took a deep breath and tilted his head back, resting it against the back of the bench, looking at the sky. "Sometimes I worry I'm not enough for him. I don't want to treat him like my father treated me, but I don't have the time to show him as much love as I would like to. Before you came I'd go to work and drop him off at whoever was able to take him, every day. Sometimes it was Nino, other times it was Alya. A few times the Gorilla had to watch him. I would pick him and and try to spend as much time as I could with him before it was bedtime, taking him out to dinner, or putting some frozen food in the over to warm up and watch a movie with him, but I worry it's not enough."

"Are you really worried? Adrien, you're a wonderful father. Romeo adores you. He wants to be Chat Noir when he grows up. I know you never told him that you're really Chat Noir, but he sees you as the superhero. You're who he wants to be when he grows up. He wants to be just like his Papa. That's amazing. I know you didn't want to grow up to be your father, and, even though I love my father, I knew I didn't want to grow up and become just like him. You don't need to worry, Adrien. You're amazing already."

"Thank you," he placed a kiss on the top of her head, taking in the scent of her shampoo, relishing every moment that he spent with her. "I don't know what I did to deserve someone as amazing as you."

"I find myself asking the same question."

The two of them walked back home, Adrien calling his father asking if now was a good time to pick Romeo up, but the boy fell asleep. He was just going to spend the night at his grandfather's house tonight. "I'm really glad he's trying with Romeo. I think my father knows that there was some distance between us. He's trying to make it up with Romeo. I feel like I should be mad, but I'm more grateful than anything."

"You right to be grateful. I'm glad your father is trying to support you now. It's never too late to start fresh with someone."

He smiled. "Start fresh, like with you?"

"No, I think we're a bit different, a bit more, _miraculous._ "

* * *

 _Yay! They had their date. I don't know why but this chapter was hard to write. I don't know if it's because it's been wayyyy too long since I've been on a proper date or if it's because I'm tired from moving furniture all day... No idea. (On the bright side my room looks awesome!) Side note: I published a new story yesterday called Broken. It's a lot different from the stuff I usually write, but please go check it out. It would really mean a lot to me. Thank you all so much for your support and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue:

"I don't want to go to school!" Romeo whined. "I want to stay here with you, Papa and Hugo and the new baby!" Romeo wrapped his arms around Marinette's large stomach. It had been four years since Marinette moved in with Romeo and Adrien, and after their first date it only took six months for Adrien to propose. He wanted to spend his life with his best friend and partner in crime-fighting. He admitted to Marinette once that he would have proposed to her after that first date, if he could have, but he didn't want to come off as pushy. The two of them were engaged for a year, letting Gabriel plan most of the wedding, as he insisted on doing, before getting married in a large ceremony that many of the world's top fashion icons attended.

Gabriel quickly discovered that Marinette was a talented designer and took her on as his apprentice, deciding that she would inherit as much of the company as Adrien did. Adrien would run the business side, and Marinette would run the fashion side. Everyone was happy with that arrangement. Gabriel let Marinette implement her line of clothes for people with disabilities, which brought the company a lot of good press. The family was happy.

When Marinette found out she was pregnant the first time she told Romeo to tell Adrien that he was going to be a big brother and filmed the reaction, where Adrien started hyperventilating and passed out, smiling when he finally woke up because they were having a baby! He had been jealous because Nino and Alya had just had their son, Lucien, only two months prior. Hugo was born and the world seemed right.

Now they had an eighteenth month old, who both Adrien and Romeo adored, and another on the way, due any day now. Marinette really didn't want to fight with Romeo, trying to convince him to go to his first day of school for the year. "Well, why don't you want to go, Romeo?" She couldn't crouch down to meet his level, so she settled for using her most soothing, motherly voice.

"Because Papa told me I had to be the man of the house when he's at work but how can I be the man when I'm not here?"

Marinette chuckled, but rolled her eyes. He had probably told Romeo that because he was worried about her upcoming due date and the fact that he was working more hours so he could take time off when the baby was born. "I'll be fine, Romeo. I'm Ladybug, remember? I can take care of myself." She gave the little boy a wink and a tentative smile began to form on his face.

"Alright…" She and Adrien decided letting Romeo believe his parents were Ladybug and Chat Noir until he was proven right was easier than telling him they weren't then correcting themselves later and telling him that they were. Romeo, despite being talkative, was good at keeping secrets. He knew not to reveal that they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. No one would believe an eight year old anyway. "See you after school, Mom. Bye, Hugo!" Hugo didn't respond, but continued to play with his toys on the floor.

Marinette kept an eye on him while she grabbed her sketchbook and began creating some new designs when she felt her first contraction. She sighed, picked up Hugo and placed him in his crib, texted Alya asking her to come pick him up and watch him, took a shower, went and ate a pint of gelato, passed Hugo to Alya, watched a movie, timing out her contractions, then called Adrien, telling him that they were about to have a baby, where he then promptly freaked out and rushed home to take her to the hospital.

That night Felix Louis Agreste was born, which was expected, but as was Bridgette Juliette Agreste, who was more of a surprise. The name Felix had been Marinette's idea. She wanted to give their son a lucky name since luck is what their relationship circled around. Adrien had wanted to name their daughter Juliette, but Marinette drew the line, refusing to have both a Romeo and Juliet in the house, but allowed to middle name to live on.

That next morning Gabriel came over with Romeo before school started. Marinette was asleep, but Adrien sat in a chair beside her, holding the two children in his arms, passing Felix to Gabriel and Bridgette to Romeo. "You've got a big job now, bud." Adrien spoke quietly, as to not disturb Marinette. "You've got three little siblings to watch after now. Are you up to the challenge?"

Romeo smiled, a glint in his eye, looking down at the pink wrapped little girl in his arms. "I will be the best big brother ever."

"You already are." Adrien ruffled Romeo's hair, causing it to go every which way. Normally Romeo would smooth it down, but today he ignored it, captivated by his new little siblings.

Marinette stirred at this moment, slowly opening her eyes, sleepily looking at her family in the room. There were some members missing, Hugo and her parents, but even seeing her husband, Romeo and Gabriel crowded around Felix and Bridgette was nice. She wasn't sure what she did to deserve this kind of happiness.

Adrien noticed Marinette woke up and went to stand by her, taking her hand in his. "You're amazing," he said.

"No, you're the one that brought this family together, Adrien."

He placed a kiss on her forehead and continued to watch his father and son with his two youngest. "Why don't we agree we're both amazing and leave it at that, M'Lady."

"We're going to have to find a really babysitter before too long, you know. We can't just keep shoving the kids off on others when we go fight."

"We'll figure something out." They sighed, looking at one another, both their eyes gleaming brightly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

 _Sorry everyone for the wait! I just got really busy with school and stuff. Recently I auditioned for a play at my local community theatre and got cast. It's a show with seven parts, three girls and four guys, and I actually managed to get one of those parts! I'm still going to be writing though. Don't worry. Currently my next story in progress is Broken, which I'm planning on updating once a week, but I haven't figured out which day yet. I'm also planning another one for weekly updates as well. After that I might consider a sequel for Romeo and Marinette but I'm not quite sure yet. I'll keep y'all posted. I can't believe this is the end! I hope y'all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing! See y'all soon!_


End file.
